The automotive history was rewritten on March 23, 2009 when
a proud Ratan Tata, India's most revered businessman and
the doyen of the country's largest business empire, drove down in his much
ambitious ultra-cheap car, Nano, to a big podium amidst thunderous
applauds from the crowds and the glaring camera lights of local as well as foreign
journalists. The world had waited with bated breath for this moment ever since
the septuagenarian billionaire announced his vision of a one-lakh rupee car
in 2006. Much ink has been spilled since then in international media on
how some idle doodling at boring boardroom meetings led the architect from
the Cornell University envision the prototype of the world's most inexpensive car.
Soon after its launch, Nano expectedly became the cynosure of
all eyes with Tatas choosing to display it at even unusual places like Westside,
a chain of group-owned malls. From Grannies to little kids all wanted a
joy ride in this cutely designed little car. After the initial hiccups and
delays, sales began peaking up with the opening of Tata Motors', Sanand plant
in Gujarat in June 2009. The company began the delivery of Nano from July
2009 and since then has sold 70,817 cars, as of October 31, 2010 (though the
Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM) puts the figure at only
50,985 units). Sales rose from initial 3,000-3,500 units per month to
8,000-9,000 units per month by July 2010.
Yet, in the beginning, a customer could not buy the car from the
showroom and instead had to wait for months after making the application, resulting
in long waiting periods, which forced many applicants to drop out in favor of
other manufacturers. In response, the company, in mid-August 2010, launched
its off-the-shelf sales drive in order to bring the car closer to the people.
Currently, Nano is available off-the-shelf in 12 states including
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, West Bengal and
Uttar Pradesh where people can buy the car directly from the company's
approved dealers.
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