Car Throttle

Tata's Nano: the little car that could. Certainly looks like it; the Nano is taking India by storm. Truly a people's car in the truest sense; the Nano car nobody (including me) thought was likely to be produced at such an incredible price. As you may have heard, Tata has used a unique process in the way it's selling the Nano. Order forms have been sold to various distributors who collect the orders. This includes people who will finance the car, like the State Bank of India (SBI). The SBI is estimated to be reponsible for over 25% of orders. Tata says it has sold over 500,000 of these forms since April 1st (the date they went on sale), with nearly all translating into sales. The company estimates that by

As of Monday March 23rd, Pre-orders for the Tata Nano are being accepted, at a starting MSRP of 100,000 Rupees, or roughly $2,000. This makes this the least expensive new car offered in the world. The 5 seater is powered by a 624cc rear mounted gasoline engine, but the basic version doesn't offer safety or comfort items we seem to take for granted, like airbags, air conditioning, or electric windows. Demand for this car will be very strong, and Tata is not expected to keep up with demand for the first three to four years. According to an article in the Financial Times, Tata Motors has started work on plans to launch the Nano in the US in a change of strategy made possible by the