Tata’s plan to launch Nano!

Finally the wait is over. The car which was a distant dream few years back is ready to rock the roads sometime soon. Popularly known as the “people’s car”, Tata Nano (petrol version) is expected to be launched around October this year.

Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors, had unveiled the Tata ‘NANO’, the People’s Car from Tata Motors that India and the world have been looking forward to, in January. It was a development, which signified a first for the global automobile industry; it would be a car which would bring the comfort and safety of a car within the reach of thousands of families.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi, Mr. Ratan N. Tata had said, “I observed families riding on two-wheelers – the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. Tata Motors’ engineers and designers gave their all for about four years to realize this goal. Today, we indeed have a People’s Car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements and emission norms, to be fuel efficient and low on emissions. We are happy to present the People’s Car to India and we hope it brings the joy, pride and utility of owning a car to many families who need personal mobility.”

The petrol version of this car has a rear-wheel drive, all-aluminum, two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33 PS, multi point fuel injection petrol engine. This is the first time that a two-cylinder gasoline engine is being used in a car with single balancer shaft. The lean design strategy has helped in minimizing weight, which will help in maximizing performance per unit of energy consumed.

Tata Nano had faced many hurdles in the due course of its making but the good news is that it has crossed all obstacles with flying colors. The car confirmed the Euro IV emission norms that have yet not come to India but are expected to become an Indian standard by 2009. During the test, this small wonder delivered 20 kmpl with its 623cc twin cylinder petrol engine. It was subjected to almost 100 tests over a period of 4 months. The car proved to be perfect to ply Indian roads.

Although Tata Motors will launch only the petrol version this year, it has already announced a diesel version and even a hybrid is in the pipeline. At its premiere in the Auto Expo in January, Ratan Tata had said: “By and large we’ve always been a diesel company so we will have a diesel version that will follow this variant soon after.”

According to sources in the auto industry, the car will sport the world’s first 800 cc, turbo charged, CRDi diesel engine. The diesel Nano will probably roll out in 2009.