Tata Motors is planning to soon introduce a CNG version of its iconic entry level hatchback, Nano in the Indian auto market. Reportedly, the move has been taken considering the declining sales of the model, as the competition has now become stiff with the introduction of several segment defining models. During January 2013, the small car was able to find just 1,504 buyers against the 7,723 units delivered in the year-ago period, which reflects over five-fold fall in the demand for Nano.
The Managing Director of Tata Motors, Karl Slym was quoted as saying, “The Nano sales have gone down and we are working to get it back. It still has a long way to go but we will be introducing the 2013 model of the car in the first half of this year as part of the plan.”
Sources believe that the new model of Nano will feature a number of additional features, which are somehow not present on the current generation model. Reportedly, all these advancements will help Tata Motors to competitively place its model in the market. On this, he added, “Moreover, we will very soon introduce the CNG option of the Nano.”
When asked about the launch of diesel guised Nano, company officials refused to provide any timeline for its launch in the Indian auto market. Speaking on this, Slym said, “In future, we will definitely introduce that but we have not fixed a date as yet. The vehicle is there though.”
Between April 2012 and January 2013, 54,835 units of Nano were delivered to the domestic buyers reporting a fall of 7.2 per cent, when compared against the sales of same period of last year. It must be noted that the former Chairman of Tata Group, Ratan Tata also believes that Nano has missed several growth opportunities, which impacted its overall sales. He said, “We were not prepared to market the car as we should have. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that momentum got lost.”
The reasons cited for the fall of sales cover several aspects like manufacturing unit transfer, improper dealership network and insufficient promotion campaigns. Considering these issues, the auto maker has now finally emerged with a solution, which is expected to be reflected with the launch of Tata’s new Nano CNG.
