[Sawyer]

Top speed in very short bursts, about 100, I had to be very aware of the speedometer since the car wants to do more. Cruising speed, around 80. About 460 kms in 8 hours is average speed of 58 kmph, or about 65 by the optimistic speedo, as all in cars are. And both times, departure time was 4 am.
My wife and I travel very light going to Goa, so the storage space behind the seat was ample.

[CARDEEP]

Rushlane is claiming that Nano will to get AMT – Automated Manual Gearbox, as option, just like the Celerio. This could improve the desirability of the small wonder car IMO.

Link to their article:

http://www.rushlane.com/tata-nano-to...-12103932.html

There is no concluding evidence though in the above article.

[vasoo]

Tata Nano is a classic case of "Too little, too late". If they had launched the car sometime in late 90s or early 2000, it would have been much better. Even now, it would have sold more if it was an electric car or at least a sensibly priced hybrid. These days, being cheap alone is not going to help a lot for selling cars. People have become more value conscious and it does matter for them if the car they buy after paying close to 2 lacs sound like an auto rickshaw.

[apachelongbow]

I think the means to save the Nano is available and simple, it is to jazz it up. By jazzing it up, means get the car to be famous. Tata needs famous people to be seen driving the Nano!! They need to make Nano a quirky cool and desirable car, the kinds people would love to be seen in, to be considered cheap yet chic.
Design your own Nano seems to one more good starting point, offering almost infinite customization (at a price), over the base, with a mixture of cheap and costly upgrades/parts swaps and colors, interior, music etc.
Sponsor fun filled Nano rallies, race track events, where in souped up/turbo charged, hot rodded/modded Nanos will race and win eyeballs. Let the custom parts/kits be available as a part of the upgrade package.
Build a culture around the car, ensure that the Nano is totally different and much more desirable compared to your average run of the mill Hyundai or Maruti hatches.
And yes, target the urban yuppie, the rich and the famous, the happening lot first, the subsequent sales will be people trying to emulate the well offs. No need to go the cheapie way to sell Nano to the family of 4 on a scooter.

[CARDEEP]

CI have confirmed in the scoop (refer link below) that there would be a Nano at the Auto Expo with Power Steering & Open-able Boot. This will be called the "Tata Nano Twist Active". As per ACI:

The opening tail gate however has increased the overall weight of the Nano by around 70-80kg which could affect fuel efficiency.

Also, there would be the Nano AMT, which could dent the Celerio as the cheapest automatic car in India. This will be launched in 2015.

More details here:

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...ed-371153.aspx

[deetjohn]

Another great article by Business Today - The new Nano promise

Fuelled by five years of disappointment, Ratan Tata's little car wants to erase its 'cheap' past for a 'smart city' future.

Tata Motors' Ranjit Yadav and Ankush Arora


Excerpts from the article:
Delna Avari had spent the previous eight years doing short stints in different countries for Tata Motors' commercial vehicles division. She was in Bangkok when Ravi Kant, who ran the company at the time, called in October 2010. He wanted her to come back to India and join the Nano team. The vision for the Nano, said Kant, had not played out the way they thought it would. As understatements go, that was like calling a Ferrari a four-wheeled transport for two.

The Nano was unveiled in January 2008, exactly 100 years after Model T hit the road and helped ordinary Americans drive every day. The Nano, as the world's cheapest car, was meant to migrate millions of Indians from two wheels to four and prove India's supremacy in frugal manufacturing just as Henry Ford's Tin Lizzie had established the moving assembly line.
However, the month Avari moved, the Nano sold a mere 3,065. It had crossed 5,000 only in four of the 16 months it had been in the market. Its installed capacity was 15,000 a month.

Between two stools
It was never meant to be a Rs 1 lakh car; that happened by circumstance: Ratan Tata, Former Chairman, Tata Sons


That price was interpreted as 'cheap'. The current thinking, within the company and outside, sees that as the root cause of all that did not go according to plan with the Nano. "Nobody wants to tell his friends and neighbors he has bought a cheap car. The brand is damaged," says Jack Trout, global guru in marketing strategy. "It is a category that they maybe should not have got into."

THEN AND NOW

It was a different India in 2007, the year before the Nano was unveiled. The Nokia 1200, priced at less than Rs 3,000, was among the most popular mobile phones. Flat panel LCD televisions were sparse, the ones with bloated backsides were everywhere. Facebook had just come in. Flipkart had just been set up. Laptop computers vied with desktops for supremacy; tablets were what you had when the doctor told you to. And yes, there is a Nano variant priced at Rs 2,58,000.

Twist in the Nano Tale
As a manifestation of the plan, cheap is out, awesomeness is in. Jagdish Khattar, who ran Maruti in the years that the idea of the Nano excited and enthralled everyone, says that should have been the case from the beginning. "I would have given this car to people who owned Mercedes and told them, 'Sir, this is your third car, take it when you go out to walk your dog in the park. Everyone will buy a car if they think it is the one that the well-heeled drive."

Avari swears the affluent always drove the Nano. "When we launched, and through the booking phase, the car was picked up by the well-heeled; 80 per cent of the buyers wanted it as their third or fourth car." She sees evidence of this every day around her house in Mumbai's upscale Cuffe Parade area, which she says is full of Nanos. "All of them are driven by their owners.

Nano's advertising today, in contradistinction to the first Nano 'aa gayi' campaign, is an explosion of colour and music, with young people apparently having fun while doing things few do in real life. The Nano would be re-positioned as a "smart city car", the commercial raced to five million views on YouTube in 30 days, more than any other car commercial had garnered, according to The ET.

But if advertising alone could do the job, Martin Sorrell would be the king of the world. The Nano's new aspiration had to be constructed in drafting rooms and workshops. It went through several changes as newer versions emerged in 2012 and 2013. The latest, called the Nano Twist, is more refined and has a better steering wheel - a power steering, no less. Tata tweaked its suspension for better ride quality and added an anti-roll bar in front. The result is reduced body roll and better stability at corners. The power train was improved to increase peak power and torque, and the exhaust system for a more refined feel.

February's Auto Expo in Greater Noida gave a glimpse of the big things in store for the little one. The Tata Motors pavilion displayed a Nano with AMT, which appears to be the new tune many carmakers are singing to lure buyers. The technology makes city driving easier by doing away with the clutch.

Of course, the prices, too, have risen. Nano Twist's price takes it into the territory of Maruti's Alto. The value proposition has changed completely, but even today it is significantly disruptive," says Wagh. He would be hoping it would not only be disruptive but also attractive.

[GrammarNazi]

Seeing many Nano Awesome ads got me thinking again on what stops people from accepting it.

Our markets like valued products at cheap prices. Nano was stripped off its 'value' as the initial delay allowed society to create a bias against it.

IMO society shunned it partly because

1) Indian society wasn't 'ready' to accept that something good can be done at such a low price. The "Sasta matlab bekar hoga" psyche played out.
&
2) People who owned cars thought that the exclusivity & 'value' of "owning a car" will be lost, demoralised people against it - The Indian Crab Story played out.

Eventually the fire incidents just made things worse.

Back then if Ratan Tata just came on TV interviews and told people to give it a fair shot, people would've understood and given it its due chance. Now people barely want to test drive it.

Although I hate being dismissive, its too late now, too much water has flown under the bridge. First impression is a lasting impression. It'll be an uphill task to get people to accept the Nano.

Unless some miracle happens, it'll be close to impossible for Tata to sell the kind of numbers they originally set out for. Whether they like it or not, they best thing they can say about th Nano Project is that its a canvas for them to keep trying new stuff.

Anyway, all the best TATA.

[drsingh]

I get the feeling more people would buy the nano instead of the reva if it had an electric variant..

[RavenAvi]

Tata Motors has suspended production of 3 of it's 5 Nano variants, as per a report at autocarpro.in.

The said variants are Base, CX & LX. The only two variants which are still in production are the Nano Twist & the CNG-powered Nano.

Tata Motors is expected to introduce newer variants of the Nano during the coming festive season, which are the "open-able" boot version & the Automatic version of the Nano Twist.

The 800cc-powered Nano is still some time away from a full-blown launch.

Tata Motors has suspended production of all its Nano variants including the standard CX and LX for now, and is only rolling out the Twist, the power steering variant. The aim is to create a bigger market for the Twist and also to partly lower inventories of the non-power steering variants.

A senior company official confirmed that Tata Motors is currently producing only the Twist, at a press conference recently. The official also said that currently around one-third, and half in some cases of Nano sales, are for the Twist variant. The Twist, with a price difference of less than Rs 20,000 over the LX variant, is seen as a good value-for-money proposition and fits well with Tata Motors’ strategy to reposition the Nano as a smart city car.

Dealers say that many prospective Nano buyers, especially of the LX variant, opt for the Twist instead. The standard variant has been discontinued and there’s discount of up to Rs 45,000 on the CX variant.

So, finally, Ratan Tata's lakhtakiya car (a car at 1 lakh rupee price mark) bites the dust.

SOURCE - http://www.autocarpro.in/ap/news-nat...t-sanand-plant

[007 Bond]

had a chat with an engineer from sanand plant today.

Plant shut down till 30 June as construction going on & modification going on to accommodate Kite there next flagship project.

Next month only 500 nos of old nano to be made.

From August nano with op enable Tail Gate to be started manufacturing.

Nano with AMT will take a little longer may be somewhere into January 2015 as per him.

[GrammarNazi]

Relieved when I came across this NEWS that Tata Nano is going to be used as a Call Taxi in Mysore.

IMO Finally they make it truly available to the people. This would be SO much better & safer compared to the currently used Auto-Ricks.

Just hope some such service is launched in Bangalore.



Having sold just ~750 units in August 2014, their recent ad campaign doesn't seem to be attracting crowds. The Sanad factory is probably barely working, hope this brings in sufficient numbers so that atleast the factory becomes viable & the huge government subsidies come of use to people.

(P.S. : Personally I think people who outright rejected it mindlessly without even test driving it would now realise what the car is.)

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Tata Motors is expected to introduce newer variants of the Nano during the coming festive season, which are the "open-able" boot version & the Automatic version of the Nano Twist.

Any ideas when this one's gonna hit the roads? post diwali? Might just be able to persuade my better half to finally start driving with combination of ultra small + PS + AT ! She is not even confident of driving my i10 in the narrow lanes.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Any ideas when this one's gonna hit the roads? post diwali? Might just be able to persuade my better half to finally start driving with combination of ultra small + PS + AT ! She is not even confident of driving my i10 in the narrow lanes.

No concrete info as of now, but expect it by end-2014/early-2015. Expected to come with the Magneti-Marelli AMT.

[sadsack]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Relieved when I came across this NEWS that Tata Nano is going to be used as a Call Taxi in Mysore.

IMO Finally they make it truly available to the people. This would be SO much better & safer compared to the currently used Auto-Ricks.

Just hope some such service is launched in Bangalore.


Having sold just ~750 units in August 2014, their recent ad campaign doesn't seem to be attracting crowds. The Sanad factory is probably barely working, hope this brings in sufficient numbers so that atleast the factory becomes viable & the huge government subsidies come of use to people.

(P.S. : Personally I think people who outright rejected it mindlessly without even test driving it would now realise what the car is.)

Tata selling the Nano as a taxi is yet another instance of the company not having a clarity of understanding regarding positioning of products. The Nano if it becomes a taxi will only cater to that market very much like the Indica and the Vista. 750 units sold is okay considering that the production of the car has been suspended. The idea is to pack it with features such as remote central locking, electric windows, power steering and AMT with air conditioning. The openable rear hatch too. All this without hiking the price too much and adding more and more to the name like Nano Twist Active. The car should simply be Nano with the trim levels indicated as CX, XT, etc. This is the one car that could be revived in sales terms. The taxi seems to be hara kiri. As a Nano owner, I am very, very disappointed at this turn of events.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Relieved when I came across this NEWS that Tata Nano is going to be used as a Call Taxi in Mysore.

IMO Finally they make it truly available to the people. This would be SO much better & safer compared to the currently used Auto-Ricks.

Agree that this is going to be much better and safer than the auto-rickshaws. However, the fare model puts it as an alternative to Indica cabs and not as a replacement for the auto-rickshaws. That's where people get the feeling of being literally taken for a ride

Nano taxis can be hired for a minimum of Rs. 70 up to 4 km after which Rs. 14.50 is charged for every km.

With something that is less comfortable than the Indica, and without a proper boot, the fare-pricing should have been set accordingly: Something like a minimum of 50 for 4 km and Rs. 10 per km after that. If that fare cannot achieve enough break-even levels, it is not worthwhile to be in the taxi segment. Why should a customer pay the rates for an Indica and travel in a Nano?

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

(P.S. : Personally I think people who outright rejected it mindlessly without even test driving it would now realise what the car is.)

If this is priced reasonably to be an alternative to the auto-rickshaws, Tata would have got an excellent opportunity to showcase this product to their potential buyers who would not bother to visit their showrooms. However, if I can afford to pay Rs. 14.50 per km to travel, I am more likely to afford something better than the Nano and would only consider this as a second car - that audience is already considering Nano.