"Since, promise is a promise the standard dealer version will cost Rs 1 lakh" announced a beaming Mr. Ratan Tata in front of thousands of journalists amid cheers from the crowd.
And sitting in front of the television, zipping past news channels showing "live & exclusive" pictures, I was as animated as I've been as a kid to get a glimpse of the car, now christened Nano.
How will it look? Will it be more spacious than M-800? Will they be able to price it at Rs.1L? These were the questions running through my mind.
I had predicted earlier to my friends that it will look similar to the 3-wheeled load-carrier of theirs, Tata Ace, which was launched a couple of years ago. When they launched Tata Ace, I had a gut feeling that Tata was testing its waters with this load-carrier. Well, I believe I was right, the Tata Nano has an uncanny front-end resemblance to Tata Ace....
Now let me stop bragging and get into the finer details. The TATA's will launch Nano in different variants and only the standard variant without A/C and other amenities will cost Rs. 1 lakh. Keep in mind that one has to dishout transportation charges and VAT separately. So, at this point, it looks like that will be an additional 20 grands. The car is expected to hit the roads in October '08. The prices of the other variants are not known at this time.
Now to the big question.. How will they make money out of it? Aint' the margins too thin? Well, their answer at this point is that there can be a lot of variants to it which you can customize at different price levels. Check out this link from their website where you can actually customize the Nano the way you want it (Highly Recommended!). And going by the options available in it, there's scope for a lot of alterations!! A few options that can be customized are the Scoop Trims, Decals, Alloy Wheel, Fog Lamps and Color variants of course.
Environmentalists have already raised their eyebrows and there's a section of the population which beleieves this car will crowd the cities. Yes, there's every possibility of that, but you cannot take it away from a common man who wants to take his family in a safe environment away from the harsh weather conditions!! If you really want to save the environment, ask automakers to stop making fuel-guzzling SUVs.
What the TATA's have in the Nano is a sure-shot winner and this will bring in a paradigm shift in the worldwide auto industry.
Here's some exclusive pictures of Nano -
The Deluxe/Luxury Version
The Standard Version
Interiors!
PS: More reviews will follow. Cross posted in Car India blog also.
