Tata Nano, the small car’s big comeback

 

Image Courtesy: indianautosblog.com

Just when critics thought Tata Nano is running out of gas, as its November’ 10 sales crashed to a mere 509 units, a sharp decline of 85% over the preceding month, the People’s Car is back with a vengeance with a sharp upturn in sales to 5,784 units, or a jump of more than 10 folds a month later, i.e., in December’10.

Just to recollect, Nano sales had been on a continuous decline since September after peaking up at 9,000 units in July last. The sales came crashing down to a paltry 509 units by November as safety concerns heightened amidst reports of over half-a-dozen Nanos catching fire and causes of which had remained unknown. This along with long delivery schedules led to huge jump in cancellations of bookings by prospective customers. All this cast a shadow over the nascent success of Nano, the world’s most inexpensive car so far. However, just when every one thought it might be the end of the road for the people’s car, it is back with a vengeance.

So, what led to the turnaround of Nano? A lot of efforts and planning. Tatas went back to the drawing board and started from scratch, from checking vehicle design to its engineering aspects to safety parameters and even some key components. In fact, reportedly, Tatas even replaced the vendor who supplied the combination switches which sparked the fire in Nano cars. Tatas also launched a ‘pre-emptive check' on all Nanos in October 2009 and followed it up by an internal investigation. While all these helped to ally customer fears about safety aspects of Nano, Tata Motors, the makers of Nano, launched several customer-friendly initiatives which include extended warranty of 4 years/60,000 km (whichever is earlier), easy financing option through its own financing arm (Tata Motors Finance) as well as in tie-ups with partnering banks, introduction of a comprehensive maintenance contract for just Rs.99 per month (which is optional though), enhanced safety features of the car and its availability off-the-shelf (one can now buy a Nano car from the company's 874 sales outlets in India).  Got impressed? We too. But this is just one month’s performance. Nonetheless, let us hope the Tatas continue to drive their little wonder in top gear in the months to come.