India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki on Thursday said it has no plans to cut the price of Maruti 800 to compete with Tata Motors' Nano.
The cheap-car tag fades with every new variant, Tata Motors inches towards taking on other city cars.
The wait for the world's cheapest car could soon be over as Tata Motors could commence limited commercial production of the Rs 100,000 Nano from alternate locations so that the first car could roll out towards the end of March 2009 from Pantnagar till the mother plant came up in Sanand near Ahmedabad.
Singur divided between those who want Tata back and those who just want their land.
The supply of Tata Motors' much-awaited small car, the Nano, is going to be well below the demand for quite some months.
Banks make criteria tougher for funding the car. Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata's dream to help the common man own a four-wheeler may meet its bete noire in bankers as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and rival lenders realign rules to finance the Nano, touted to be the world's cheapest car.
The new plant at Sanand will be inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, who seven years ago dreamt of making an affordable family car for the common man. Spread over an area of about 1,100 acres, the new facility has been created at the cost of approximately Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).
The speech, short, crisp and delivered with feeling, saw Tata take head-on all the criticism targeted at him and Tata Motors in the four years that the car was under development. It ended on a triumphant note as Tata emphasised that he had delivered on his promise to provide a car that was more affordable than any other in the world.
The car is expected to be powered by 800cc to 1 litre engine.
Based on the Tata Nano, the TataPixel - at just over three metres in length - is the most package efficient four-seater in the world.
The Tata Europa is a jazzed-up version of the Nano that we got to see at the Auto Expo in India last year, but there are some important changes.
Call it the "Nano effect" but less than a month after Tata Motors displayed its competitively-priced small car at the Delhi auto show, prices in the 1.3-million used-car market crashed 15 to 30 per cent, if not more.
Though most people expected Tata Motors to select either Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka for its Nano project, it was clear that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had done the impossible and coming from nowhere bagged the prestigious project.
To begin with, the Indigo CS and the Indica Dicor are available right now, and since we last drove either car, there have been improvements.
Rs 1,199 spread comfortably across 84 months or 7 years. The rate of interest is 11-11.5 per cent, which is cheaper than a two wheeler loan.
Allegedly owned by CPI(M) promoters, it is not cultivated, says Trinamool leader. Rally turnout lower than expected.
Terming Tata Motors Nano project as "very important for Bengal and industrialisation", CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri was on Thursday hopeful that talks between the West Bengal government and Trinamool Congress on the issue would lead to a solution.
Just when it was almost certain that the Tatas were pulling out the Nano project, the West Bengal Cabinet assured help and cooperation to Tata Motors and requested them to change their minds. The West Bengal Cabinet said after a meeting on Thursday that though the Nano project was not on the agenda, it came up for discussion following requests by ministers.
According to experts, Tata Tiago JTP and Tigor JTP -- a sedan and hatchback -- are not only powerful and faster than every other car in the segment, but also in the segment above, including their peers Maruti Baleno RS, Volkswagen Polo and others.
The demand from second-time car buyers outstrips the demand from those seeking to upgrade themselves from two-wheelers. Tata Motors' city dealers say about 60 per cent of all Nano buyers are those who already own a car and the rest 40 per cent are those who either own a two-wheeler or have never owned a vehicle earlier.
"The amount payable to the company at the time of booking is Rs 95,000, and the bank would lend this money to the applicant at a less than 10 per cent interest," said S K Goel, chairman and managing director of UCO Bank. He said the scheme offered by UCO was different from that of the State Bank of India, in the sense that UCO would lend any amount less than Rs 95,000 to the customer depending on their need.
Prices of second-hand cars, mainly compact ones, have fallen 15-20% in the last few days. Dealers in the unorganised market fear a further price dip of 10 per cent when delivery starts and the Nano is seen prominently on roads. The Nano, expected to sport an on-road price of Rs 1.25-1.3 lakh for the no-frills, base version, will compete with the compact cars of Hyundai Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and General Motors.
"This is for the first time that a manufacturer will charge for an application form. However, it will be refunded if an application is rejected," said a senior bank executive. Bookings are expected to start by the last week of March. The forms will be collected through various channels. "All the forms and the collected money will be transferred to SBI, where they will be processed, and loans will be given through various banks within 90 days," said a source.
Come Sunday, India's automobile industry will achieve a unique distinction of showcasing both the world's cheapest car Nano and two of the costliest brands -- Jaguar and Land Rover -- from the Tata Group.
If Tata pulls out now, it will be a huge blow to the state, and will be expensive for Tata too, as the company has irretrievable sunk cost in Singur of between Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) and Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion). Among the will be Mamata Banerjee, who will find it hard to live down the ignominy of having deprived her state of a project that has made news the world over.
Tata Motors' Nano may be struggling to survive, but Renault Nissan alliance Chairman and chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn is glad the group followed the lead of "visionary" Ratan Tata's dream project
Tata displayed its facelifted Aria and Safari Storme Mountain Rescue concept cars at the Geneva Motor Show.
If all goes well, Ford India will park its second manufacturing unit right next to Tata Motors' Nano factory at Sanand.
Despite what the Nano can do to the country's automobile market, its ability to transform Tata Motors' financials will be limited, says Shyamal Majumdar.
Vyarawalla was upset to learn that the company has already delivered 16 cars in the city yesterday, beginning with customers in Mumbai, followed by Ahmedabad and Vadodara and her name did not figure in this list.
Less than five months after Tata Motors relocated its Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat over land issues, another Tata group company, Tata Metaliks, is reviewing its expansion project in the state on similar grounds.
Sources in the West Bengal government's finance department said the state had made budgetary provisions that would run into several hundred crores every year for 20 to 30 years to attract Tata Motors' Nano project to Singur.
The state government has been lobbying the central government for continuation of these incentives.
Also said that the slowing demand for Tata's Nano shows consumers aren't looking for low-cost cars.
He was responding to the shareholders' questions relating to the abandoned Nano car factory at Singur at the AGM of Tata Global Beverages.
"The scene will be a bit like the Maruti 800 days. Those who are lucky enough to be allotted cars this year can resell it immediately at a premium of Rs 30,000 due to the anticipated shortage," an executive at a Motors dealer said. Supply, Tata Motors dealers say, would be between 40,000 and 50,000 cars, with 100,000 being the most optimistic estimate. This would mean customers may have to wait for up to two years to get delivery if all the bookings are accepted.
Five months after Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat, another Tata company has decided to move a project out of West Bengal. Tata Metaliks has scrapped its 500,000-tonne billet project, proposed to be built with an investment of Rs 700-800 crore
Making a submission in the court of Justice Saumitra Pal, Tata counsel Samaraditya Pal said that 997.11 acre leased to Tatas (lessee) by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (lessor) was not kept idle from the time of execution of the lease deed to the exit from the site by the company.
It epitomises a significant opportunity lost, just when the state was beginning to shed three decades of leftist inhibitions in favour of economic reform.
Tata group chairman Ratan Tata on Tuesday virtually ruled out any investment in Singur and said the company would gladly return the land if compensated.
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