Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
|
TATA honcho Irani says Nano has huge potential | The tiny Nano cars made by India's Tata Motors have been described by company director Jamshed J Irani as having huge potential. Even as analysts claim that
the Nano could rock the international auto industry and put millions of new Indian
drivers on the road, Irani told the Washington Post in an interview that while
Tata is producing only about 100 units a day at present, it hopes to ramp up to
about 1,000 vehicles a day next year. He also said that Tata has started building
low-cost homes, which the media has labelled as Nano homes. Irani stopped by The
Washington Post last week to talk about the 2,200 dollar basic model, billed as
the world's cheapest car. He said that at present the Nano was being distributed
by lottery. "We took a lot of deposits, but [because of the long waiting list]
we said those who wanted their money back could get it because even in March 2011,
we are not sure they will get the car," he said. Irani also expressed confidence
about the car not contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. "It might even reduce
emissions. If I drive my Tata, my Mercedes will be parked. So, from an environmental
point of view, pollution will be reduced because the consumption of fuel will
be much less in the Nano. About 19 to 20 kilometers per liter," he said. As far
as target customers were concerned, Irani said: "We are looking at the segment
between the two-wheeler just now and the cheape st car in India, which is three
times the price of the Nano, which costs 2,200 dollars. That is the basic model.
You can get air conditioning, power steering, with windows going up and down.
The model with all the bells and whistles is 170,000 rupees [about 3,740 dollars].
Now Tata sells about 250,000 cars a year." Expressing optimism about doubling
Nano sales, he said: " Easily." He also said that at present Tata had no plans
to go abroad with the Nano. "The Indian market we think is inexhaustible. If you
take the Indian population, there are 1.3 billion. There are about three million
cars -- not even one percent. . . . But in the middle class, there are 300 million
people, and quite a few will graduate from two-wheelers to four-wheelers. The
only restrictive fact is the roads. We have to make more roads to move the cars,"
he said. He also said that foreign car manufacturers were still years away from
making a car similar to the Nano. |
|
|
|
|
|