The Nano, dubbed “the world’s cheapest car,” went on display in showrooms across India on Wednesday, draswing crowds anxious to see and sit inside a vehicle that could transform their lives.
Buyers will be able to make reservations for Tata Motors’ small but sporty new vehicle, dubbed the “People’s Car,” which costs just 100,000 rupees (US$2,000), starting on Friday with a down payment of 2,999 rupees.
“This is a good car for me,” said office clerk Anil Kumar, 37, as he sat in the front of the five-seat car at a Tata dealership in New Delhi.
PHOTO: EPA
“It means safety for my family,” said Kumar, who transports his wife and three children around the city on a motorcycle.
“I’m going to buy one,” he said, as other potential owners jostled for a look at the silver, snub-nosed car that has a tiny two-cylinder, 33 horsepower engine and a top speed of 105km per hour.
Kumar is typical of the buyer that Tata Group chief Ratan Tata had in mind when he conceived of the Nano as an affordable way for poorer Indians to replace their unsafe motorcycles with safer cars.
Tata said he had wanted to create “a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport” for Indian families. Families of four are regularly seen balancing precariously on motorcycles weaving through India’s notoriously lethal and congested traffic.
Analysts say the ultra-cheap Nano could revolutionize how millions in India and in other emerging economies travel. Indian ratings agency Crisil says the Nano’s price has cut the ownership cost of an entry level car by 30 percent.
Crisil said: “This will make the car affordable to an additional 14 million families, including a section of 58 million two-wheeler owners.”
The Nano drew worldwide attention at its launch in Mumbai last week and models for the European and US markets are in the pipeline.
The European version is costlier, with airbags and leather trim, and will be on sale by 2011. The US version needs redesigning to meet safety standards.
But even Indians will struggle to get their hands on the car in the near future, with demand expected to outstrip supply after Tata was forced to quit its main Nano plant because of a violent land row in West Bengal state.
The first Nanos will be rolled out of an existing plant while a new factory is built in Gujarat state. To cope with the wide interest and supply shortages, the first 100,000 owners are being selected by lottery. Some of those will not get their Nanos until next year, a Tata spokesman said.
But the car’s lack of fast acceleration because of its small engine worried one potential buyer, Chottu Lal Dhruv, a tea stall vendor, who makes out-of-town trips to Hindu temples with his wife and two children on his motorcycle.
“This is really a city car,” he said. “I need a car which can go long distances.”
The launch has come as India’s top vehicle maker is going through a rough patch as it tries to absorb British luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover, which it bought last year and whose sales have plunged.
Despite its expected popularity, analysts say the Nano will not make a big contribution — at least in the early years — to the company’s bottom line with profit margins seen slim.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source