Nano's Facelift To Get More Sale Volume

By Anjana Ns

Published: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 14:46 [IST]

Having faced an unexpected debacle with the sale volume of its world cheapest compact car Nano, Tata Motors has devised strategies to upgrade the car. The facelift will include power steering for easy driving and a 5-speed gear box for fuel efficiency and smooth drive even at top speed. Tata is aiming to release this refined version sometime Q1 of 2011 whereby there new adjustable seats will be fitted. After that there will be diesel version of Nano as a part of its upgradation measure. The existing Nano has a 624-cc petrol engine and is available in three versions- base variant is non-a/c (Rs1.37lakhs) while the mid and top-end variants include a/c. the refined version will see the price revision too by 5-10 percent from that of the current top-end version.

However, Tata Motors claims that the revised price of the refined version will still be cheaper than the rival models- Maruti Suzuki"s Alto (Rs 2.53lakhs on road). Tata Motors is on the verge of sustained move to retain and regain the customer confidence. Tata Motors is forced to come out with such strategy of refinement as the sale has been declining of late. The company acts upon the feedback retarded by its dealers. Tata Motors has begun test drive of the refined version in its Sanand facility, and says the car is fitted with new style and features in the interior segment too. Tata Motors underwent a nightmarish experience when the sale of Nano came to an unexpected low profile, there by stalling the manufacture in Sanand facility. The reasons attributed are the rise in price, unavailability of ready finance and fire incidents with the car. This made the company to monitor the safety aspects for the running 70000 units, after delivery.

As a follow up, Tata Motors has offered 4-year warranty for the car and an extended, exhaustive maintenance service. The company now hopes that the sale spirit will revive after these remedial measures. Another reason cited by Tata Motors for the decline in sale is the negligence of the rural pockets and small cities. As a remedial measure for this, the company is setting up special Nano access points for free test drive. All these measures are targeted to be phased out for increased sale before the end of this fiscal. But the sources and experts in the industry say these measures will not yield instant results.

Article Published On: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 14:24 [IST]

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