Tata Nano may hit the African markets sooner than the European markets. Within next 18 months, Tata Motors will launch its ultra-cheap car in Nigeria which will be most probably end 2010. "Tata Motors will make the Nano available in Nigeria in the next one year to one and a half years," a senior official of Tata Africa Nigeria, Sudeep Ray, said. The base model will be priced same as the Indian model which will be NGN 357,480. This price is lower than the second hand saloon cars currently being sold in Nigeria. A used car in Nigeria approximately costs NGN 500,000.
There are no clear indications from the company whether it will be imported as a CBU in Nigeria or it will be locally assembled. "The company has said that the Tata Nano can be marketed in other countries, but timelines, modes and countries are yet to be finalized," said Tata spokesman.
It remains to be seen how Tata Motors intends to fulfill oversees orders. The domestic customers are still waiting for the final delivery and there is still a long line of customers waiting in queue to place their orders. Most of the customers had refrained from booking the car due to ambiguous booking procedure, non-availability of test drive, uncertainty over delivery schedule. Once the Nano is delivered to the customers and is actually visible on roads, there will be a lot of customers waiting to book their car as well.
