India’s dream come true car TATA Nano seems to have to an end of its journey as with just one unit produced in June, although the company maintained that no decision has been taken yet on stopping its production.
The entry-level car which was Ratan Tata’s dream of giving a safer and affordable alternative to families riding on two-wheelers, sold three units last month in the domestic market.
Re[ortedly, in a regulatory filing, Tata Motors said there was no export of Nano in June this year. It had shipped 25 units in the same month last year. In terms of production, only one unit was produced last month as against 275 units in June 2017.
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Domestic sales were at three units in June as against 167 units in the year-ago month. When contacted for comments on whether the company has taken a decision to stop its production of Nano, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “We are well aware that the Nano in its present form cannot continue beyond 2019 and may need fresh investments to survive. No decision has been made yet in this regard.”
“We continue to produce Nano catering to customer demand in key markets,” company’s spokesperson was quoted in a report.
Nano was unveiled in January 2008 at the Auto Expo with much expectations of being the people’s car, could not live up to the billing. The car was launched in the market in March 2009 with an initial price of close to Rs 1 lakh for the basic model despite cost escalations, with Ratan Tata insisting that “a promise is a promise”.
Later Ratan Tata had admitted that the company made the mistake of promoting the Nano as ‘the cheapest car’ as it turned out to be a loss-making model for Tata Motors.