Tata Nano

The Tata Nano is a city car launched by India's Tata Motors. The model was unveiled at the 9th annual Auto Expo on January 10, 2008 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India.

According to Tata Group's Chairman Ratan Tata, the Nano is a 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) car with a 624 cc rear engine and rear wheel drive, and has a fuel economy of 4.55 L/100 km (51.7 mpg (US), 62 mpg (UK)) under city road conditions, and 3.85 L/100 km on highways (61.1 mpg (US), 73.3 mpg (UK)). It is the first time a two-cylinder petrol engine will be used in a car with a single balancer shaft. Tata Motors has reportedly filed multiple patents related to the innovations in the design of Nano, with powertrain design alone having 34 patents. Rising star Girish Wagh has been credited with being one of the brains behind Nano's design

Tata claims that the Nano complies with Bharat Stage-III and Euro-IV emission standards.

The Nano has 21% more interior space and an 8% smaller exterior, when compared with its closest rival, the Maruti 800. The standard version of the Nano (without air conditioning, radio and power steering) will cost Rs 100,000 (not including levies such as VAT/LT, transport and delivery charges) (US$2500, GB£1277, €1700), making it the least expensive production car in the world. The choice of price has led to the Nano being called the "1-lakh car" (after the Indian word, meaning '100,000'). The car will come in different variants, including one standard and two deluxe variants. The Deluxe variant will have air conditioning, but no power steering. The car is expected to be produced in the Sanand plant in Gujarat which is under construction. The initial production target set by Tata Motors is 350,000 units per year.Currently it is manufactured in Pantnagar Plant where the current capacity is 1,00,000.

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Recent Changes
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Styles and Major Options
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Pricing
NANO Base Rs 117000/ $ 2400

NANO CX  Rs 147000/ $ 3000

NANO LX  Rs 174000/ $ 3500

Gas Mileage
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As seen on the FuelEconomy.gov website, the City/Highway MPG averages are as follows:

Engine and Transmission

 * Engine:
 * 2 cylinder petrol Bosch multi-point fuel injection (single injector) all aluminium 623 cc (38 cu in)
 * 2 valves per cylinder overhead camshaft
 * Compression ratio - 9.5:1
 * bore × stroke 73.5 × 73.5 mm
 * Power: 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) @ 5500 rpm
 * Torque: 48 N·m (35 ft·lbf) @ 2500 rpm


 * Rear wheel drive, 4-speed manual transmission


 * Steering – mechanical rack and pinion

Tata is said to be working on diesel version of Nano. Nano diesel might come by end of 2011 or early 2012. Tata Nano Diesel

Performance

 * Acceleration: 0-70 km/h (43 mph): 14 seconds


 * Maximum speed: 105 km/h (65 mph)


 * Fuel economy (combined City + Highway): 20 kilometres per liter (5 L/100 km, 47 US mpg, 56 UK mpg)

Reliability
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Steering column fire
In early exapmles, there has been a danger of massive fires occuring in the steering column and is claimed by Tata that the short circuit of the indicator, light and wiper switches are the likely cause. So far, no injuries have been reported.

Safety
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Photos
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Colors
Racing Red,Summer Blue,Champagne Gold ,Lunar Silver ,Ivory White ,Sunshine Yellow

Main Competitors

 * Nissan Micra
 * Hyundai Getz
 * Mitsubishi Colt
 * Toyota Yaris
 * Honda Fit/Jazz
 * Tata Indica
 * Hyundai i20
 * Chevrolet Aveo

Hybrid Models
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Unique Attributes
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Interior
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Resale Values
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Mass motorization and climate change
Some critics argue that the Tata Nano with its extraordinarily low price might lead to mass motorization in countries like India and therefore aggravate pollution and Global warming. The Indian and chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri said he was "having nightmares" because of this car. Meanwhile, supporters of the Tata Nano say developing countries should't be denied the right to motorized mobility and that industrialized countries have to reduce emissions and usage of cars in the first place.

Singur car factory land dispute
Controversies also arose about Tata's planned manufacturing unit for the car in Singur, West Bengal, where the regional government of West Bengal has allocated 997 acres to Tata Motors. The construction of the car factory on that tract of land will require fertile agricultural land and the expropriation and eviction of ca. 15'000 peasants and agricultural workers. The affected farmers fear to receive no adequate compensation and therefore lose their livelihoods.

They and their supporters argue that reducing the agricultural surface of the West Bengal state with several hundred hectars is critical. Some claim that this might be just the beginning, since the expected mass sales of this little cars could lead to extensive use of the farmlands for paved roads, parking lots and other amenities, and will reduce the farmland of India with an expected 1 milion hectares - which is the food base for abb. 10 millions Indians.

Activists near Kolkata, where Tata's manufacturing unit is located, started burning the car in effigy. In New Delhi, women protested wearing T-shirts bearing slogans that said, "The Rs 1 lakh car has Singur people's blood on it." The Trinamool Congress alleged that Tata motors usurped the agrarian land for the construction site and have threatened to stall the manufacture of the car.

Generations
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Worldwide
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Design quirks and oddities
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Awards
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Booking Process
Seeing the fanfare involved with the world cheapest & smallest car, the demand of the Car was more that the supply which TATA motors can supply. So it used an innovative booking process to alott cars. Forms of Rs 300 were sold to customers through TATA dealerships & several banks were roped in to sale the form & provide the booking finance. The forms were sold between 1st April to 25th April 2009. From 10-25 April, bookings were done.

To book a NANO a customer has to buy a form of Rs 300 & then submit the amount of Rs 95000 for Base model, Rs 120000 for CX model & Rs 1,40,000 for LX model. This could be paid by customer in cash or could be financed by the bank. This amount was financed by banks(SBI) as upfront intrest of Rs 2999/- for base model, 3499/- for CX & 3999/- for LX model.

The allottment date was kept as 25th June 09, two months after booking closed. TATA motors promised to deliver first one lakh car at the fixed price for the period of next one year.There was an option of retaining the money with TATA motors with the benefit that prices of the cars would be same as on launch even after a year or more when the car is allotted.

FINAL RESULTS OF BOOKING PROCESS
The Tata Nano drew over 2.03 lakh fully paid bookings amounting to nearly Rs.2,500 crores, in an encouraging response to the car launched on 23rd March. This money was advance recieved by TATA motors when not even one car was delivered to the customer. A master plan where it encashed the premium on the Small Car. This money was useful considering huge debt in balance sheet on TATA motors owing the take over of JAGUAR & LANDROVER.

The Tata Nano website recorded an unprecedented 3 crore (30 million) hits from the date of launch of the car to the closure of the booking period (25th April, 2009), nearly 1 million hits a day. About 14 lakh people walked in to Tata Motors Showrooms, Croma and Westside stores across the country to catch a glimpse of the car. A total of 6.10 lakh forms were purchased from the booking centres. 70% of the 2.03 lakh bookings received were financed, while 30% of the applicants booked in cash by paying fully. About 4,000 cash bookings were made online through www.tatanano.com, a first for the auto industry in India. Among the three variants of the car, 20% bookings are for the Nano Standard, 30% for the Nano CX and the remaining 50% for the top-end Nano LX.

The first 100,000 allottees from among the applicants will be chosen through a computerised random selection procedure, and the announcement will be made within 60 days of closure of the booking. Deliveries will start in July 2009, and are expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2010, while all efforts would be made to ramp up production and deliver earlier.

Simultaneously along with the announcement of the first 1 lakh successful allottees, Tata Motors will also announce the allotment of those booking applicants who have expressed their interest in retaining their bookings with the company even if they do not form part of the first 1 lakh allottees. The retainees will earn an interest on their booking amount, effective from that date. The booking amounts of unsuccessful applicants who have not chosen to retain their booking amounts will be refunded at the same time.