“A Car Most Said Couldn’t Be Manufactured…”: What Ratan Tata Told The World At The Nano Unveil

Indian industry icon Ratan N. Tata has passed away, but he has left behind a legacy that will be remembered fondly by all, especially those in the automotive sphere. After all, it was his efforts that helped Tata Motors find its feet on the global stage and grow into one of the biggest automakers in the country. Among many other highlights, the creation of the Tata Nano stands out as one of the defining moves of Ratan Tata’s career, as it was born out of his desire to create safe and affordable four-wheel motoring for those who could only afford two-wheelers. At the launch of the Nano in 2008, Tata’s address included the reasoning behind the Nano, as well as the doubts cast by critics on the company’s ability to produce a genuine car for the promised Rs 1 lakh price.

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The Nano arrived with a shocking starting price of Rs 1 lakh (ex-factory).

“Today's story started some years ago when I observed families writing on two-wheelers, the father driving a scooter, his young kids standing in front of him, his wife sitting behind him holding a baby. And I asked myself whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable all-weather form of transport for such a family. A vehicle that could be affordable and low cost enough to be within everyone's reach; a people's car built to meet all safety standards designed to meet or exceed emission norms and be low in pollution and high in fuel efficiency. This then was the dream we set ourselves to achieve”, Tata told a packed house at the 2008 Auto Expo.

Tata explained how many had shot down the possibility of such a vehicle existing, and even joked about it potentially being “two scooters attached together”, a “poor excuse for a car”.

With a snippet of a comment from Suzuki Motor Corporation’s Osamu Suzuki on the screen in the background, Tata said, “Despite what the critics said, we pursued our vision to give India an affordable people's car that had not been produced anywhere in the world. A car that most people said could not be manufactured for that kind of price. But we never took our eyes off our goal.”

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The Nano arrived amidst much fanfare, with a shocking Rs 1 lakh (ex-factory) starting price, but it was soon caught up in controversy. Tata Motors had to shift production from Singur, in West Bengal, to Sanand in Gujarat. Instances of vehicle fires and other safety concerns, paired with the Nano’s perception of being a ‘cheap’ car, ultimately led to demand flattening over time. 

Tata tried to shore up the Nano’s appeal by adding a power steering, as well as an automated manual transmission option with the ‘GenX’ update, but the Nano continued to flounder, and was finally discontinued a decade later in 2019.