A lot has been said about Tata Nano, better known as the ‘World’s Cheapest Car’ that has been performing poorly in monthly sales. In its 8-year run, the car has had many ups and downs, albeit the company stood by its product. However, it seems like Nano has embarked on its final journey in India.
In June 2018, the home-grown carmaker produced just one unit of the hatchback. However, the company hasn’t yet stopped its production in India. The Nano registered sales of three units in June, 2018 as against 167 units of the same month last year. Interestingly, not a single unit has been exported last month as opposed to 25 units of June, 2017. Read: Tata Beats Mahindra To Become India’s 3rd Largest Carmaker In June
An official statement reads, “We are well aware that the Nano in its present form cannot continue beyond 2019 and may need fresh investments to survive. No decision has been made yet in this regard. Meanwhile, we continue to produce Nano catering to customer demand in key markets.”
The Nano is the worst performer of all the products manufactured by Tata and the carmaker has stopped investing in vehicle. The decision was taken by the management, as despite numerous efforts the model has not been able to show improvement in terms of sales. Read – Upcoming Tata Cars in India
While Tata could stop selling Nano in India, it might continue to export it to overseas markets. Even if company somehow continues selling it in India, the car will have to clear the mandatory crash-test that starts from 2019. This indicates new investment to abide by the safety norms.
First launched in March 2009, Tata Nano made a grand debut at the 2008 Auto Expo, where it was referred to as the ‘Lakhtakia Car’. The car was originally priced at Rs 1 lakh, but the prices had to be changed upwardly in the following years owning to surge in production cost. Read – Tata H5X SUV & 45X Hatchback Launch Details Revealed
In 2015, the Nano was re-launched under the GenX Nano badge at a price of Rs 1.99 lakh. Currently, the car is available in the price range of Rs 2.36 lakh to Rs 3.34 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) which is slightly less than Datsun redi-GO that starts from Rs 2.49 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Interestingly, Tata Nano was the inspiration behind the current hot seller in the budget segment, Renault Kwid.
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