Tata Motors is believed to be working on a two-cylinder 684cc diesel version of the Nano, which is scheduled to debut during the last quarter of 2009-10.
The car is expected to hit the roads by 2010MUMBAI: Tata Motors is believed to be working on a two-cylinder 684cc diesel version of the Nano, which is scheduled to debut during the last quarter of 2009-10.
While there has been no official communiqué from the company on this plan, top ancillary suppliers involved with the project have confirmed that this car will be a “critical growth driver” in the coming years.
It will supplement the efforts of its 623cc petrol version sibling, which is due to hit the roads this fiscal.
Tata Motors has already indicated that the diesel Nano was on the cards at the time of its unveiling at the Auto Expo in January.
Sources said it will have a competitive price tag of Rs 2 lakh, which will be “a real bargain of sorts”.
Today, the least expensive diesel car at Rs 3 lakh-plus is the 1400cc Indica, again from the Tata stable.
Of course, the final price tag could inch upwards should raw material costs escalate, as is the case presently. Vendors of the Nano have, however, been apprised of the task ahead in terms of competitive costing to make the final product as affordable as possible to the customer.
If the success of the diesel Indica is any indication, there is no reason to believe that Tata Motors will not do an encore with the Nano. Even after a decade of its launch, the Indica has little competition in the compact car diesel segment.
The Palio, Swift and Getz diesels are far dearer and hardly pose a threat. Similarly, the Nano diesel will be in a niche of its own and so long as the price differential with petrol continues, customers will make a beeline for the car.
Interestingly, sources say, both the diesel and petrol versions of the Nano have been targeted for Thailand towards the end of 2010.
There will be added features, of course, with the most significant being three cylinders (instead of two) which would then translate into a 937cc petrol and 1026cc diesel version apiece.
Of course, the biggest challenge now is to get the Nano out on the roads first. For the moment, it looks as if the car will roll out of the Uttarakhand plant because time is running out at Singur.
This fiscal could, therefore, see barely 15,000 Nanos with the numbers going up to 150,000 units during 2009-10. This is when the diesel version will also debut and see volumes soar to the targeted one million cars eventually from four plants.
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