When Ratan Tata announced that Tata was going to build a car that would damage your bank balance by only a single lakh of rupees, heads of the general public turned and jaws dropped wondering if it would be possible. While the car has ended costing closer to a lakh and a quarter for the base model, don’t forget that the Nano is no engineering joke; it has as many patents to its design as Microsoft Windows, including 34 for the design of the non-opposed, two- cylinder engine. The car has a very unique design, cute enough to make heads turn, yet offer practicality to its passengers.
The Nano is smaller than the Maruti 800, yet offers upto 21 per cent more interior space. The top-of-the-line LX Nano meets the standard model 800’s cost. So the ultimate decision of the buyer would have been whether to purchase a luxury model Nano with air-conditioning or the standard model Maruti 800. But now that Maruti is discontinuing the 800, more market share is up for grabs, and this will suit Tata just fine.
Because of its super-aggressive pricing, the Nano has a wide array of potential clientele.
I was recently reined into a conversation with an auto-rickshaw driver in Bengaluru and he told me the on- road cost of a rickshaw is about `1,40,000. Now while the cheapest Nano costs about `1,30,000, ex-showroom, the on-road cost is only slightly higher. The car is small, yet surprisingly roomy, and extremely fuel efficient, but not underpowered.
There’s also no doubting the success in the styling department.
We are privileged to live in the Nanonderthal era, so let’s try spreading some common sense around — a small car does not mean a compromise or a downgrade, it just means convenience and more savings.
The writer is an automobile enthusiast based out of Kodaikanal