Tata set to give Nano a smart makeover

Tuesday, 27 August 2013 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

India’s tiny four-seat Nano – Tata Motor’s modern take on a people’s car for the 21st century and pitched as the world’s cheapest car – will be repositioned as a “smart city car” after disappointing sales. The Nano was launched in 2009 as an affordable 100,000 rupees (a little below $2500 at the time) price solution for millions of aspirational lower-middle class Indian families wanting to upgrade from motorcycles to four-wheel vehicles. Not a “car with nothing, but a motorcycle with everything” was how Tata’s design chief Pratap Bose described it. But Tata discovered that budget-strapped Indians are still image conscious. Too many have spurned the jellybean-shaped car carrying the “cheap” tag. Tata hopes to reinvigorate sales with what the company’s boss Karl Slym described as a “proliferation of variants”. Slym says the Nano is its own brand within a brand, and a car with a global attraction, and has previewed the new-look Nano with the Pixel concept in 2011. The upgraded Nano will be a smart city car with a funkier vibe than before targeting young customers. Revisions will include a power steering option, an improved interior and exterior, broader colour choices, and better fuel efficiency. A much-delayed compressed natural gas-fuelled variant will also go on sale this year. Clearly a huge fan of the Nano, Slym compared it with Europe’s two-seat Smart car and says Tata’s product has the benefits of carrying four people. But Slym gave no indication that the Nano’s “global attraction” will extend to Australia. “I don’t know about [Tata] passenger cars for Australia,” he parried, before getting back on message. “I see opportunities for the Xenon (launching in October) and light commercials are our first step.” (Source drive.com.au)

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