Nano’s ‘cheap’ tag turned out to be expensive | India News – Times of India

One of the most daring projects that Ratan Tata attempted, Nano was perhaps one that was closest to his heart. Conceived by Tata in the early 2000s, the car was intended to provide the Indian middle class with a safe and affordable four-wheeler.
“What really motivated me and sparked the desire to produce such a vehicle was constantly seeing Indian families on scooters, perhaps the child sandwiched between mother and father, often riding on slippery roads,” Tata said in an Instagram post in May 2022. , long after the coveted car – which created a stir around the world for its cheap price of Rs 1 lakh ($2,500 then) – had disappeared.

Dubbed the ‘lakhtakia’ car (Rs 1 lakh) in local parlance in the run-up to its launch, the Nano was launched to much fanfare by Tata in March 2009 (it was first unveiled at the 2008 Auto Expo in New Delhi). ).

The car, which initially saw a flood of bookings, soon became embroiled in controversy – right from the location of the factory where it was to be produced (the then West Bengal opposition leader Mamata Banerjee’s agitation saw production shift from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat in October 2008); experiencing sporadic fire incidents due to mechanical problems; to be labeled unsafe; to be branded as a ‘poor man’s car’. Last time, many middle-class Indians avoided purchasing the car, which came with a 625cc engine and was a lot smaller in size compared to many other entry-level cars like the Maruti 800.

Later, in a TV interview in 2013 – when the Nano was gradually being written off the market with very low buyer interest – Tata himself admitted that the image of a poor man’s car had acted as a ‘stigma’.

He admitted that Tata Motors had made a mistake in marketing and positioning the car. “It was seen as the cheapest car by the public and, I’m sorry to say, by ourselves, not by me, but by the company when it came on the market. I think it was unfortunate.” He said the car should have been marketed more to two-wheeler buyers as an “affordable” and safe all-weather option, but not as “the cheapest” vehicle on the road. Such was the demise of the Nano that Tata Motors did not produce a single copy of the car in 2019.