Test drives unlikely, unusually high booking amount, delivery only by June...all that's part of mini-car mania sweeping the country
Test drives unlikely, unusually high booking amount, delivery only by June...all that's part of mini-car mania sweeping the country
The Tata Nano is finally here. The production model of the world's cheapest car is being launched in Mumbai today. But you can't get behind its wheel yet. Not even for a test drive.
According to leading Tata Motors' dealers in the Capital, the Nano may become the only car in India in recent times to be sold without offering customers the chance to drive it first. Even the premium Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen allow probable buyers to test drive the posh vehicles before paying the booking amount.
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With unofficial estimates hinting that the manufacturer is planning to supply only one lakh Nanos all over the country in the first year of production, most dealers agree that driving the Nano will only be possible after buying it. "The curiosity value of the Nano can be compared to the buzz that the Maruti 800 created in 1984 when it was launched. There will be many window shoppers who will want to drive the car as an experience. We need to weed them out," said Baleshwar Deep, a sales consultant at Sanya Automobiles.
u00a0The company, however, is not divulging any detail. "I do not want to make any comment right now. The company strategy will be revealed later. But the customer will be given a fair chance to decide if he wants to buy the Nano or not. There will be no confusion," said Head of Corporate Communication at Tata Motors, Debasis Ray.
Booking at a premium
While not allowing test drives may help keep gatecrashers out of the Nano party, the company's decision to fix the car's booking amount at a steep Rs 70,000 (almost half its on-road price of about Rs 1,30,000 for the basic model) may help as well.
In comparison, the booking amount for a Maruti 800, Nano's closest competitor, is around Rs 5,000. And a premium Honda Civic car, priced at around Rs 8 lakh, can be booked for about Rs 50,000! "The company seems to have adopted this strategy to reduce false bookings. It will also control chances of the Nano being sold in the black market," said Satish Saluja of JKM Motors, a car dealer and financier.
Interestingly, dealers expect to make the first delivery of the car only by May. "We have heard that the booking of the car will start by the second week of April and will end by the month-end. So the first car will not be delivered before May. We are expecting a waiting list of about six months," said an official handling Tata Motors vehicles at a multi-brand showroom in South Delhi.
According to unofficial reports, forms to book the Nano, priced at Rs 300 each, will be available at selected Tata Motors outlets in the city and at a few State Bank of India (SBI) branches. The SBI will provide loans to book the car and buy it too. It is also believed that the company will adopt a lottery system to decide the first lot of buyers.
Car for all
While the company is touting the Nano as a poor man's car and the first four-wheeler a bike owner will graduate to, dealers are receiving queries from the moneyed class as well. "We are receiving about 20 enquiries every day out of which about five are from those who want the Nano as a second car for convenient city driving or from students," said an official of A-One Motors at Mathura Road, a leading Tata Motors dealer.
Many parents want to buy the Nano for their college-going children. "I already own two premium cars but want to buy two Nanos, one each for my daughter and son. Not only will it be affordable but as the Nano has a speed limit of about 100 km per hour, my children will not be able to drive too fast. It should be safe," said SN Kumar, who had walked into A-One Motors to make enquiries.
While Kumar said he wouldn't require a bank loan for the two Nanos, another customer, Rajesh Baruah, a chauffeur with a city businessman, said he could only buy his dream car if the bank approved his loan application.
"I have been working as a chauffeur for about a decade and have always dreamt of driving my own car. May be the Nano will make my dream come true," said Baruah, as he made detailed enquiries about the car's loan provisions at the showroom.
| Book and buy |
| * Booking date: 2nd week of April * Forms will be available seven days before the booking date is announced but only for 14 days. Delivery to start by June * Forms will be available at State Bank of India (selected branches), leading Tata Motors dealers * Cost of forms is Rs 300 (per customer) * Booking amount is Rs 70,000 (approximately) * Allotment by random lottery |
| Handy hints |
| Tata Nano will come in three variants -u00a0Base, mid-level CX and top-end LX Will have 4 forward gears, 1 reverse Fuel consumption is 23.6 kmpl (approx) and speed limit is 105 kmph |
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Nano Manager |
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Gearing up to cater to the rush of customers once the Nano arrives in the market, most authorised Tata Motors' dealers have formed special teams. These teams are taking care of enquiries now and will attend to customers and handle delivery of the vehicle later. The teams are being headed by a Nano Manager. "That's the designation of the sales person heading the Nano team," said an official of Sanya Automobiles. |
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