Tata Nano achieves 203,000 confirmed bookings; 610,000 bought forms

After a great deal of speculation, Tata has released what has happened to the booking process of Nano. Over 203,000 clients have fully paid for the privilege to be the first 100,000 to own a Nano, while 610,000 have bought the booking forms.



Of all the bookings, 70% of them were financed. Differently from what was expected, Standard had the preferences of only 20% of the clients. The intermediary version, CX, reached 30% of all reserves and LX, the top of the line, was responsible for 50% of all booked Nano units.

Deliveries will start after the computerised random selection is performed, in June 25, and will go on until the end of 2010, when the Sanand factory is ready.

Nano will have three versions in India: Standard, CX and LX. Standard, as the name states, will be the entry-level version. It will cost, in Pant Nagar, 112,735 rupees, or US$ 2,232.38, or a little above 1 lakh, or 100,000 rupees, or US$ 1,980.20, as promised. According to Tata, the car will cost 1 lakh when it leaves the factory, what, in our opinion, is not of much help for the final consumer. Anyway, Nano is still very cheap. For this vehicle, reservation price is 95,000 rupees, or US$ 1,881.19.

The Nano Standard offers three colour options, one-tone seats and a foldable rear seat. By the way, all Nano units are 3.1 m long, 1.5 m wide and 1.6 m tall, with a 624 cm³ rear two-cylinder engine mated to a four speed gearbox. The engine generates 35 bhp at 5,250 rpm and 48 Nm at 3,000 rpm, what helps the 600 kg car reach a top speed of 105 km/h and emit only 101 g/km, with a fuel consumption of 23.6 km/l. With its 15 l fuel tank, Nano has a mileage of 354 km.

Nano has no disk brakes, only drums in all four wheels. Considering the car's weigh and top speed, this should be no problem in city traffic, but may cause overheating in highways. This may be a reason for Nano's short warranty period: only 18 months or 24,000 km, whatever comes first.

The intermediary version of Nano, CX, offers five colour options, parcel shelf, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), two-tone seats, a foldable rear seat with nap rest and, surprise, booster-assisted brakes. In other words, anyone missing ABS shoud try to stop a Standard Nano without getting tired very quickly. CX prices go from 139,780 rupees, or US$ 2,767.92, to 160,320 rupees, or US$ 3,174.65. Its reserve price is 120,000 rupees, or US$ 2,376.24.

The top Nano, called LX, offers everything CX does plus fabric seats, central locking, front power windows, body coloured exteriors in three premium colours, probably mettalic ones, fog lamps, electronic trip meter, cup holder in the front console, mobile charger point and a rear spoiler. Prices for LX range from 170,335 rupees to 185,375 rupees, or US$ 3,372.97 to US$ 3,670.79. Its reserve price has been established at 140,000 rupees, or US$ 2,772.28.




Source: Tata