Tata Nano sales go up in April

Tata Motors finally has a reason to cheer! After an initially disappointing sales run, Tata has managed to sell more than 10,000 Nano cars in April 2011.

The cumulative sales of the Nano stood at 70,432 vehicles during the March 2010 – March 2011 period which is a 132% sales increase when compared to the 30,350 sold in the March 2009 – March 2010 period. This trickles down to a grand total of 1, 10,782 units of the Nano in India.

Sales of the Indica and Indigo however have seen a downward shift and Tata Motors sold 4,250 units of the Indica models (eV2, Xeta, Vista) and 5,282 units of the ‘Indigo’ models (CS, Marina, XL, Manza). When compared with sales in April 2010, the sales of the Indica and Indigo models were down by 53% and 27% respectively.

Sales of Tata’s SUVs/MPVs have gone up by 15% in the last month the company sold 3,843 units of Sumo, Safari and Aria models. Related: Tata Aria 4×2 variant likely to be launched

The sales of the Nano in November 2010 stood at a dismal 509 units and caused many people to speculate that the car had failed to reach its target customers; two-wheeler owners. However, after the company reassured customer of the Nano’s safety by offering 4-years/60,000 km warranty, and other schemes like; Nano in exchange for two-wheelers, zero down payments etc sales improved. Tata Nano sales were at 5,784 units in December 2010, 6,703 units in January 2011, 8,262 units in February 2011 and more than 10,000 units in March 2011.

In February 2011, Tata Motors tied up with the Future Group (a retail chain) to sell the Tata Nano in 120 Big Bazaar stores across the country. More than 5% of the total 8,262 Nano cars sold in February 2011 were bought through Big Bazaar stores and this will likely continue to be the case in coming months. Big Bazaar and Tata Nano both target customers from similar economic backgrounds and hence the strategy worked wonders. Also read: Tata Nano now available in Big Bazaar

Tata Nano petrol is already gaining popularity. But Tata Motors is not finished with the Nano project yet in fact they have been developing a diesel version of the Nano. The test mules of the Nano diesel were spotted in April 2010 as well as in March 2011.

The diesel engine for the Tata Nano is being developed by Bosch, which also developed the petrol engine for the car. According to a senior executive of Bosch India, the 700 cc, 2-cylinder, diesel engine of the Nano would return a mileage of 40 km/litre.

When launched, the Nano diesel will be the most fuel efficient car on Indian roads. It is expected that the price of the Nano diesel will 15-20% (approx. Rs. 27,000) more than the Nano petrol. This will make many fuel conscious buyers to choose the Nano diesel as the price difference between petrol and diesel will be just 33%. The Tata Nano diesel will likely reach showrooms ahead of March 2012.

Tata Nano price & specifications