Tech & Biz

TATA Nano Car First Pictures on the road - World's cheapest CAR

by Ravi Dixit | February 27, 2009 at 11:03 pm

5749 views | 45 Recommendations | 8 comments

TATA Nano the world's cheapest car from the house of TATA was sighted on road and it really looked small on the highway from Pune to Bangalore; trying to get its place amongst the big brothers of traffic.

Presumable the car was being taken from point A to point B and all the cars look good amongst the glam and glitter of the road shows and auto shows. These pictures provide the first glimpses (I checked could not find any other on road pics) of how the car looks on the road driving on the roads in India.

Update: If you want to book the car through a loan you will have to pay INR 300/- to procure the form!! Now in the times of recession they are trying to cover all costs it seems!

New Delhi: This is news for those of you who want to buy the Tata Nano on loan – application forms will cost you a fee.

Tata Motors is likely to charge around Rs 300 for every application. This is the first time that a manufacturer will be charging a fee for a loan application.

The PR machinery of TATA has done a great job so my eyes lit up as soon as I saw the CAR, a bit out of place I thought and then realized that it was NANO, the people's car. I did follow it for a few minutes and managed to take these pics. After a few minutes it actually came to rest where other small beauties were parked nicely wrapped under covers.

I thought that was the resting place for night and the five odd cars were being shipped to a destination and kept under wraps when they were not moving. :-) so I felt lucky to have uncovered and clicked the most awaited car of the year 2009, and not just for India, but for the entire world. Can a car US$ 2500 car be actually produced and sold, the answer is yes and as per media reports it will be launched commercially on March 23rd.

For those who wish to book the car without a test drive, these pictures will give you the best feel of how TATA NANO Car will look on Indian roads/ highways.

Mumbai: Now this is one ride that can give Tata Motors some relief after the heavy beating that the company experienced in recent months. And unlike Tatas the solace won’t be yielded by its heavy-weight trucks but its most-awaited product till date — the Nano. The ultra-compact Rs 1 -lakh peoples’ car — which missed the deadline last year — would be officially launched in Mumbai on March 23, 2009, the auto major said on Thursday.

The news of TATA NANO launch has filled the common man with the hope of owning a car, but it also gave a lot of hope to Tata Motors as it stock gained when the sensex was dropping on 26th February.

Tata Motors has rallied nearly 3% to Rs 144. Larsen & Toubro has gained 2% at Rs 625, and Grasim is up 1% at Rs 1,422.

AHMEDABAD: The first Nano, the world's cheapest car, is expected to roll out of the Tata Group's Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion/$3.86 billion)

Sanand plant in Gujarat by end 2010, company officials said on Monday.

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amyjudd

flagged this story as Eyewitness Report

at 12:16 on February 28th, 2009

This is an eyewitness report from the NowPublic member Ravi Dixit who was on the scene.

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Uwe Paschen

at 02:19 on February 28th, 2009

Look like a Japanese Mitzubishi only those run at $4,000.00 to $6,000.00.

I assume $2,500.00 is the very basic version, what would be the price of the high end version?

What is the Fuel consumption and accident safety rating on those as well as the environmental impact rating?

Edmund Jenks

at 07:29 on February 28th, 2009

Good Post - Top Story at Motorsports Feature Page!

Motorsports & Automotive Culture News -Your NowPublic Racing and Automotive News headquarters!

Please TAG post with - motorsports - thanks.

Anmol Chaturvedi (not verified)

at 11:50 on February 28th, 2009

@Paschen.

Tata Nano's Base version at current Currency exchange rate will cost $2000 while Delux version (The base version is getting no air conditioning. The Deluxe variants will get AC, body colored bumpers and will have option for alloy wheels, fog lamps and ICE) will cost $2800 - $3000.

Tata Nano have passed the full-frontal crash test (regulatory requirement in India) and also Side and Offset crash test. (Google: ARAI Tata Nano).

Tata Nano also complies with Euro IV standard.

Fuel efficiency (overall) will be : 20 kilometres per litre (5 litres per 100 kilometres (56 mpg-Imp; 47 mpg-US).

BTW, Tata Motors have joined Progressive Automotive X PRIZE and will release Diesel (684cc CRDI) and Electric version. Bosch is working on that and it may end up making Tata Nano most fuel efficient vehicle. source :http://xprizecars.com/2008/05/tata-motors-to-enter-two-vehic.php

- Anmol

Amy Judd

at 12:16 on February 28th, 2009

Is it very safe to drive? Thanks for this story and pictures!

Ravi Dixit

at 20:49 on February 28th, 2009

yes it is safe to drive and has some basic safety features, we do have emission norms in India but cars are not graded on their safety standards.

Crossomotive (not verified)

at 16:17 on March 18th, 2009

Aside from the fact that it's very cheap. I also love this car because certainly, it is more earth-friendly than an SUV in my opinion.

automotive (not verified)

at 22:09 on May 1st, 2009

Tata calls this "The People's' Car". Very well. But without a bonnet, where exactly is the people's engine located? And there's no boot; where do you put the people's cargo? And why are the people's tires so small? And what happened to the people's catalytic converter?