World's cheapest car makes official debut

The world’s cheapest car made its official debut today with makers Tata hoping for massive sales.

The Tata Nano comes with a price tag of around €1,400 and will be on display at the company’s dealerships across India from April 1.

Hit by the global meltdown, Tata Motors, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, recently announced its first quarterly loss in seven years, and it hopes the Nano will help turn around its fortunes.

Chairman Ratan Tata said: “At this moment there is a feeling of great happiness that we have come to this point.

“It is an Indian car being produced in India. We are overwhelmed by the reaction. We wanted a find a safe way to transport Indian families at an affordable price. That is how the project started.

“We worked in isolation until we unveiled the car in January. We did something that met our needs and that of people being transported by other means. We have never looked at it as an engineering feat,” he added.

“Since the inception of the idea, a lot of things have changed including the global meltdown and other factors. We promised to bring out India’s cheapest car. A promise is a promise and we had to keep it,” Mr Tata said.

Prospective customers can order with a nominal deposit.

But Resham Singh, showroom and sales manager at Sanya Motors, New Delhi, warned that demand would far outstrip supply.

“The Nano is a value-for-money car. Apart from the price, it has better designs than what is available in the market right now,” he said.

“For every 100 bookings we will only be able to give away two-three cars. The ratio of supply to demand is less.”

A Tata Motors spokesman said the first deliveries will take place in July. The company has ensured a wide dealership with more than 30,000 locations across India.

Mr Tata confirmed that he expected demand to outstrip supply. “There is a challenge involved,” he said.

“A friend once told me that you wouldn’t want to make someone wait too long for his car since a car is like a pretty woman. If you wait too long she will become old and perhaps fat. We don’t want to make people wait too long,” he added.

The “people’s car” which was first unveiled in January last year has generated a huge interest among young adults due to its cheapness.

Mr Tata said: “The greatest challenge was to produce a car within the cost goals we set. It is a full car – to provide a family with hope, a car capable of fulfilling the issue of cheap transport.”

Earlier this month its European version was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. The company plans to roll out the car by 2011 to comply with European emission standards and has other added features.

The launch was delayed after the company was forced to shift its plant in West Bengal to Gujarat over a land acquisition controversy last year.

The firm has broadened its launch with “Nano merchandise” which includes phones, watches, T-shirts, keyrings and accessories like body kits and alloy wheels, all available online.