NEW DELHI: Tata Nano, which is started as one of the most ambitious projects in the Indian automotive industry, is all set to meet a sad end. Tata Motors has not produced a single unit of its entry-level car Nano in the first nine months of 2019 but sold just one unit in February in the domestic market.
Nano, the cheapest car and brainchild of Ratan Tata, former chairman, Tata Group, is not doing well, according to official data. The company produced the vehicle in December last year when it rolled out 82 units from Sanand plant in Gujarat.
The company has maintained so far that it is selling Nano “as per the demand”, but the demand for the small vehicle has come down to almost zero.
According to official data, Tata Motors sold just a single unit of Nano during the January-June period.
While the company is yet to announce about the future of the vehicle, it has hinted that Nano production would be stopped from April 2020 as the firm is unlikely to upgrade it to meet the stricter BS-VI
emission norm.
The idea of world’s cheapest car was conceived by Ratan Tata, when on a rainy day he saw a family of four soaked in water on a two-wheeler. He then embarked on a journey to make a car, which would be a tad expensive than a bike.
The company first decided to build its plant in Singur in West Bengal in the year 2006 and planned to invest up to Rs 2,000 crore to turn the small town into an auto city.
However, its ambitious plan met widespread protest in the region over the acquisition of fertile land and eventually Tata Motors decided to shift the Nano factory to Sanand.
In 2009, the car was launched in two variants — a basic model priced at Rs 1.12 lakh and the luxury version costing Rs 1.70 lakh.
While the car did decent business in its first year owing to unprecedented euphoria in the market, safety concern and stigma attached with buying the “cheapest car” reduced its aspiration significantly.
Tata has no further plans to invest in Nano
The production and sale of the Nano cars would likely stop from April 2020 as Tata Motors has no plans to invest further on Ratan Tata’s dream car to meet strict emission norms under Bharat Stage-VI and other safety regulations