The one-page ad in the major newspapers of the nation said
it all: "It's here. The new Tata Nano. To end all speculations,
debate and talk. And change the way India travels."
That ad from Tata Motors was splashed across all major newspapers
on January 11, 2008—a day after Ratan Tata, the Tata
Group Chairman, announced the launch of the world's cheapest
car, Nano, which is more popularly known by its moniker,
the Rs. 1 lakh car.
It was at the Geneva Motor show in April 2003 that Ratan
Tata revealed that he was pressing ahead with his dream-project
of making a $2,000 (Rs. 1 lakh) car. "It's my dream
to make the car a reality within the five years I remain
as Tata Chairman," the irrepressible man behind the
four-door hatchback Tata Indica, who is known to walk his
emotional talks, said. The idea, he would reveal later,
occurred to him several years ago. It was the image of a
lower middle-class man on a scooter, with the elder kid
standing in front of him and the wife riding side-saddle
at the back with their second child on her lap, that set
Ratan Tata thinking: why not create a basic four-seater,
four-door car using the components from the region's large
scooter and motorcycle industries, which the masses or,
more precisely, the millions of scooter and motorcycle riders
and three-wheeler users could afford? And when he made his
idea public, all the "speculations, debate and talk"
that the aforementioned ad refers to began in all earnestness.
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