nano Archives | AutoDepot

Official: Tata Nano updated, world’s cheapest car gets CNG option

Filed under: Coupe, Budget, India, MISC

2013 Tata Nano - blue

Back when it went on sale in 2008, the Tata Nano was heralded as something of a new Model T for developing economies. As the world’s cheapest new car – and not by a little – the four-door Indian runabout was poised to usher in a new age of personal transportation to the world. But things didn’t quite work out that way, and the discount rear-drive minicar has seen its sales fortunes undone by all manner of issues, from reports of fires and quality issues to protests at its assembly plant and poor public reception. But Tata Motors isn’t giving up on the Nano just yet, having just unveiled a newly updated design and a compressed natural gas (CNG) model.

The new updates don’t register as much more than a mid-cycle refresh, with small differences outside like a new rear fascia with mesh inserts and additional chrome trim. More meaningful updates indoors include a revamped center console and a new twin glovebox, updated upholstery, body-color trim bits and available extras that include remote keyless entry, a four-speaker AmphiStream audio setup with Bluetooth and USB hookups. Minor controls have also been relocated for improved ergonomics, and there’s a slightly larger steering wheel to ease parking maneuvers. In addition, a range of new personalization kits are available, including things like body graphics, aero kits, different alloy wheels and contrasting roof treatments.

The conventional two-cylinder gas powertrain remains unchanged, giving 37 horsepower. The new bi-fuel Emax model runs on gasoline and, with the flick of a switch, CNG. The four-stroke, 624-cc engine features an aluminum head and block, and it offers 37 hp on gas and 33 on CNG, while the torque peak sits at 38 lb-ft under gasoline power and 33 lb-ft on natural gas.

Along with the revamped Nano, Tata Motors also rolled out updated versions of its Indica, Indigo, Safari and Sumo models.

Tata Nano updated, world’s cheapest car gets CNG option originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Official: Tata Nano updated, world’s cheapest car gets CNG option”

Report: Tata to double Nano production amidst sales uptick

Filed under: Budget, Plants/Manufacturing, Earnings/Financials, Tata

2011 Tata Nano CX

2011 Tata Nano CX – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Tata Nano has enjoyed an increase in sales in the last couple of months, reportedly sparking Tata Motors to double production of its budget-minded microcar this fiscal year. In March, the Indian automaker moved 8,707 examples, pulling to within spitting distance of its 9,000-unit sales record for July, 2010.

After a summer selling record numbers, the Nano’s sales plummeted to just 589 in November, following numerous reports that alleged that the cars were mysteriously bursting into flames. After the mysterious fires, Tata offered free extended warranties on the cars, up to 90 percent financing on easy terms, and a comprehensive maintenance plan at just 99 rupees a month (about $2.25 U.S.).

The incentives seem to have struck a chord with buyers, and the Nano is right back where it was a year ago. Currently, Tata is building 9,000-10,000 cars a month at its Sanand, India plant, and had planned to increase that rate to 15,000 this fiscal year. In light of the sales spike, though, that number was bumped to 18,000 to 20,000 units a month.

Gallery: 2011 Tata Nano CX: Quick Spin

[Source: The Hindu Business Line]

Report: Tata to double Nano production amidst sales uptick originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Tata to double Nano production amidst sales uptick”

Autoblog Podcast #222: Chevy Colorado, Porsche 918, Tata Nano for U.S. and J.D. Power Reliability

Filed under: Podcasts, Etc., Chevrolet, Porsche, Tata

Autoblog podcast logo

Click above for the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes, RSS or listen now!

Autoblog Podcast #222 is ready to go, and the crew this week is Chris Shunk, Zach Bowman and Dan Roth. Joining this trio is Dave Sullivan of AutoPacific, and topics range from the next-generation Chevrolet Colorado, to the Porsche 918 Spyder, the possibility of the Tata Nano in the States and J.D. Power Reliability results. Your feedback in our Q&A module winds us up, and we’ve embedded that in the post below, as well. Thanks for listening, we’ll see you next week!

Autoblog Podcast #222: Chevrolet Colorado concept, Porsche 918 Spyder, Tata Nano in the U.S. and JD Power Reliability

Next-generation Chevrolet Colorado unveiled
Porsche 918 Spyder
Tata Nano to be offered in the U.S.?
JD Power Dependability study
Detroit News’ Scott Burgess resigns

In the Autoblog Garage:

2011 Jeep Patriot
2011 Audi A8
2011 Hyundai Equus

Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Zach Bowman

Guest: Dave Sullivan

Runtime: 01:28:10

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly

Feedback:
Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com
Voicemail: 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763)

Review the show in iTunes and take our survey

Autoblog Podcast #222: Chevy Colorado, Porsche 918, Tata Nano for U.S. and J.D. Power Reliability originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Autoblog Podcast #222: Chevy Colorado, Porsche 918, Tata Nano for U.S. and J.D. Power Reliability”

Why, yes, that is a Tata Nano covered in pure gold

Filed under: Budget, Hatchback, India, Tata, Design/Style, Luxury

Tata Nano Gold Plus by Titan Industries – Click above for image gallery

Try to imagine the most basic car on the road, and you’ll likely conjure up images of the Tata Nano. The Citroën 2CV of our time, the Nano was conceived as bare-bones, bargain-basement transport for the masses. But while it makes the rest of us wonder how much our own cars are really worth, sales of the diminutive budget car have been lagging in the wake of safety concerns after cars were reported to be spontaneously combusting due to bad wiring and such.

To drum up enthusiasm for the Nano, Tata has brought in one of its subsidiaries, Titan Industries, to give the car a more luxe appearance in the form of gold and jewels. Celebrating the 5,000th anniversary of Indian jewelry, Tata and Titan launched a public campaign to solicit designs for a bedazzled Nano. Thirteen designs came in, with the winner you see here chosen just a few days ago. The conspicuous one-off will be crafted out of pure gold by Titan at its facility in Bagalore. Have a closer look at the winning design, along with a couple of the runners-up, in the gallery below.

Gallery: Tata Nano Gold Plus by Titan Industries

[Source: International Business Times]

Why, yes, that is a Tata Nano covered in pure gold originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Why, yes, that is a Tata Nano covered in pure gold”

Video: Tata Nano gets cuddly new television ad

Filed under: Budget, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, India, Tata

Tata Nano ad

She loves the new Tata Nano in the driveway – Click above to watch the video after the break

If small equals cute, the Tata Nano might be the cuddly-wuddliest little car in the world. Sadly, that cuteness isn’t necessarily translating into sales at the level the Indian automaker was planning for. Hence, advertisements.

While Tata usually veers towards the humor side of the advertising coin, for its first Nano commercial, Tata has decided to dance upon the heartstrings of the Indian audience, and rather successfully we might add. ‘Course, we’re not Indian, and no, those weren’t tears – we just had something in our eye…

Click on past the break to watch the Tata Nano advertisement, where you’ll see an adorable little girl with too much eye makeup asking her grandmother when their new microcar will make it home. As you’ll see in the video, the Nano impresses all who see it on its journey from dealership to neighborhood. And it finally gets a little eye makeup of its own. Aww…

[Source: YouTube via Indian Autos Blog]

Continue reading Video: Tata Nano gets cuddly new television ad

Video: Tata Nano gets cuddly new television ad originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Video: Tata Nano gets cuddly new television ad”

Tata Nano retrofitted with four-year warranty to assuage quality fears

Filed under: Safety, Tata

2010 Tata Nano

2011 Tata Nano – click above for high-res image gallery

Tata Nano sales may have started out strong, but a number of price increases and several reports of electrical or exhaust fires have resulted in a huge sales plunge for the world’s most affordable vehicle. Last month, Tata sold just 509 copies of the micro mini – a far cry from the massive waiting list for the Nano back in 2009.

Automotive News reports that the Indian automaker is looking to once again win over perspective buyers by introducing a four-year factory warranty. What’s more, Tata will extend the warranty to all 70,000 owners already in the books. The automaker has attempted to fix the vehicle fire issue as well, offering all 70,000 owners the option of installing “additional safety protection in the exhaust system and the electrical system.” Tata claims that foreign contaminants in and around the electrical system and exhaust system could be responsible for the fires.

Gallery: 2011 Tata Nano CX: Quick Spin

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Tata Nano retrofitted with four-year warranty to assuage quality fears originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Tata Nano retrofitted with four-year warranty to assuage quality fears”

Report: Tata Nano sales plunge to just 589 units in November

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, India, Tata

2011 Tata Nano CX

2011 Tata Nano CX – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Tata Nano was such a hot commodity when it entered the Indian market that Tata Motors felt compelled to hold a lottery to determine the first 100,000 customers. A reported 70,000 copies of the $2,500+ econobox have been sold to date, but November apparently didn’t budge that number much.

Bloomberg reports that only 589 Nano models were sold in November; a minuscule total for a mass-market car. Tata CEO Carl-Peter Forster reportedly blames a lack of financing options as the reason customers aren’t buying. Forster claims that the Nano is popular with customers who currently use a bike or motorcycle for transportation, and the feeling is that banks fear that extending a loan to a lower income buyer could bring increased risk of default.

But while bank loans are one problem, another issue could stem from the fact that the Nano has been in the news for catching fire. That’s definitely not a desirable feature, and we’re thinking that customers who plunk down their life savings for their first vehicle don’t want their low-cost car to turn into a pricey car-b-que. The ‘no loans’ theory sounds even less likely after hearing that overall Tata sales in November were 54,622, up one percent year-over-year. And the icing on the cake? Tata has also raised the price of the Nano twice over the past few months; $198 in October and four percent back in July. That’s about $300 more than the car sold for at launch.

Gallery: 2011 Tata Nano CX: Quick Spin

[Source: Bloomberg]

Report: Tata Nano sales plunge to just 589 units in November originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Tata Nano sales plunge to just 589 units in November”

Quick Spin: 2011 Tata Nano CX – Driving the world’s cheapest car

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Hatchback, India, Quick Spin

2011 Tata Nano CX – Click above for high-res image gallery

People love the idea of super-cheap transportation. Two generations ago, Volkswagen captured the world’s attention with the Beetle (known originally as “The People’s Car”), but when people finally drove the rear-engined VW, they realized it was more than just a cheap car – it was remarkably fun to drive.

India’s Tata Motors picked up on the people’s car idea several years ago. Motorbikes and pedal bikes are the go-to transportation options for millions in India, which presented an opportunity. But with the average price of a new car in the U.S. hovering around $30,000, an inconceivable sum in the developing world, Tata would have to do something very different. The tiny Nano was the result. It’s currently on sale in India starting at around $2,500. That sound you hear is over a billion people cheering because they can now envision themselves owning transportation with a roof that they don’t have to pedal.

The pint-sized sedan wowed crowds at its New Delhi introduction in 2008 and Tata began exporting the Nano throughout the developing world. Speculation swirled that the company would eventually target the U.S. after the car was put on display at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, but do we really want it here?

Gallery: 2011 Tata Nano CX: Quick Spin

Continue reading Quick Spin: 2011 Tata Nano CX – Driving the world’s cheapest car

Quick Spin: 2011 Tata Nano CX – Driving the world’s cheapest car originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Quick Spin: 2011 Tata Nano CX – Driving the world’s cheapest car”