Bookings of Tata Motors' [Get Quote] Nano began Thursday with nearly 80 per cent of the buyers opting for the more expensive variants instead of the base-level car which is priced at Rs 1.23 lakh (Rs 123,000 ex showroom, Delhi).

The trend is based on responses from dealers and banks that took bookings in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Kolkata on Thursday. The Nano CX costs Rs 1.48 lakh (Rs 148,000) and the top-end LX Rs 1.72 lakh (Rs 172,000).

"We have booked over 70 Nanos today (Thursday) and most of them were the CX and the LX versions," confirmed Rajiv Lohia of R D Motors in Kolkata.

In Mumbai, a senior executive of State Bank of India [Get Quote] who was coordinating with one of the dealers, added, "All the 12 buyers in this dealership opted for the top-end variant and all of them made the down payment of Rs 1.40 lakh (Rs 140,000) upfront. None of them were financed."

In Delhi, where the car is the cheapest amongst all the major cities, dealers said most of the buyers already own cars -- contrary to Tata Motors' stated strategy of using the Nano to expand the market to buyers who didn't own cars.

"We see up to 85 to 90 per cent of enquiries coming from people who already drive a small car. And 90 per cent of them have booked the mid- and top-end variants. So far, we have received up to 80 applications with the application fee. Almost 100 per cent of the buyers are self-financed," said a Tata Motors dealer in Delhi.

Tata Motors did not give out booking details but some indications were available from various parts of the country.

In Chandigarh, for instance, SBI officials said they had processed about 200 applications and expect other banks to have taken in around 700 applicants.

In Bangalore, one of the leading Tata dealers, Prerana Motors, took over 500 bookings for the car and the numbers are only increasing.

In Dehradun, over 2,000 forms had been sold till Thursday. "We are getting good response for Nano," said Rakesh Oberai, a dealer for Tata Motors in Dehra Dun.

Banks offering loans are elated at the response.

United Bank of India, which tied with Tata Motors to offer loans for the Nano, sold 1,500 forms Thursday across the country. "We had taken 6,000 forms from Tata Motors, but we should have taken more, given the high demand," said sources at UBI. UBI is selling forms in 286 branches, but collection will be done through all the branches.

In Kolkata, UCO Bank [Get Quote] V K Dhingra, executive director, reported "excellent" response. The bank sold 1,000 forms.

Many dealers said consumers are also booking the car because they expect to get a premium by re-selling it. "Our expectation is that you could make a cool Rs 30,000 and even more if you are the lucky few who get delivery in the initial phase," said a Tata Motors dealer.

Bookings for the Nano will be open till 25 April and around 100,000 cars will be available in the first 12 months. Winners will be chosen through a computer-generated random selection procedure.