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Tata Motors will deliver the first batch of its affordable car, Nano, during the last week of July, officials close to the development said. Ratan Tata, chairman of the company, is expected to hand over the keys to the first Nano customer. The auto major has already begun dispatching the vehicles to dealers across the country after sending allotment letters to the first one-lakh customers.

Over 70% of the total 2.03 lakh bookings have come from non-metro markets. Tata Motors, which closed the bookings for the Nano on April 25, 2009, will complete the process of delivering one-lakh cars by the last quarter of 2010. A Tata Motors dealer based out of South Mumbai said, customers have been informed about the delivery schedule in their allotment letters.

Customers, who do not figure in the first one-lakh list, have been given the option of retaining the booking and will earn interest on their booking amount with effect from July 2009. According to Tata Motor spokesperson, as many as 55,021 customers have consciously agreed to accept the delivery of the cars after the first batch delivery.


Tata Motors had offered the one-lakh pricing for the Nano only to the first one-lakh customers. Among the three variants of the Nano car, the base version accounted for 20% of the bookings, followed by the CX variant at 30% and the remaining 50% for the top-end LX variant.

“The Tata Nano is unlikely to contribute significantly to Tata Motors’ revenues in 2009-10, as the initial volumes are low. However, as the booking amount is higher for the top-end variant, the margins will be better. A lot will depend on product performance and how fast the Sanand capacity comes up,” said an analyst from a Mumbai-based brokerage firm.


The company, which is currently manufacturing the Nano from its interim facility at Pantnagar, has a capacity to manufacture 50,000 cars a year, which it plans to raise to 2.5 lakh units once its new plant at Sanand in Gujarat starts in December.

The company sold a total of 6.10 lakh forms and garnered nearly Rs 2,500 crore on 2.03 lakh bookings. Although initial industry expectations were around five lakh bookings, company officials maintain that the company has garnered a good response at a time when the car market is struggling for volumes.

ET

The world’s cheapest car, Nano, is likely to wrest the leadership position in the small car segment within a year as the ruling market leaders — Maruti 800 and Omni — will no longer be sold in 11 of India’s biggest cities from January 2010 because of failure to meet current emission norms. These cities account for one out of two cars sold in the country.

Although Nano could become the highest selling car in its segment, it would take some time to contribute to Tata Motors’ sagging bottomline. Tata Motors, which suffered a Rs 2,500-crore loss last year largely due the tribulations of its UK subsidiary Jaguar and Land Rover, needs to sell at least 2.5 lakh units of the Nano to make money from the world’s cheapest car. The company may be in a position to produce the Nano in these numbers only by the end of 2010 once its plant at Sanand, Gujarat becomes operational.

The entry-level Maruti 800, the flagship product of Maruti Suzuki India, is priced at Rs 2.15 lakh. The basic version of the Nano is pegged at Rs 1.35 lakh though other version with more more features cost more.


The pricing strategy of Nano is not decided yet. The price of the Nano could go up. The first one lakh allotments (of the Nano) are price-protected as prices were declared at the launch. For others, should circumstances require any pricing decision, it will be intimated to them (customers who have booked the car) at the time of delivery. The company is also planning to launch the diesel version of the Nano. There has been speculation that the diesel Nano could cost around Rs 2 lakh, making it the cheapest car in the category.

ET

Tata Nano, christened “Europa” the ultra low cost European version car, was launched in the Geneva Motor show. After launching in India on March 23, the Tata Nano will hit the European market by 2011, group chairman Ratan Tata announced at the Geneva Auto Show on Tuesday.

He, however, refused to give away the cost of the European version of the car, saying a lot of factors needed to be looked at before the price could be decided. The Nano Europa, being showcased for the very first time, has become Curiosity No.1 at the Geneva Auto Show. With a reputation for being the world’s cheapest car preceding it, exhibitors and engineers from across the globe were, through the day checking out the car’s features, sitting behind the wheel, tapping the exteriors and feeling the interiors.

 
Though it’s not expected to be a big hit in Europe, it would do well in certain European countries.