Tata Nano From Cheap(est) To City(est) To Cool(est) +VIDEO

Mumbai August 22, 2013; In a bid to boost Nano sales and woo young customers, Tata Motors on Wednesday said the budget car will be repositioned as ‘a smart city car’ with added features such as power steering, apart from introducing a CNG version.

Tata Group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry said at the 68th annual general meeting in Mumbai, “We are now focusing on increasing the features and the perceived value of the Nano with every subsequent model launch.”

“We are now focusing on making it a smart city car and targeting the young customers,” he added.

Tata Motors has not been able to draw in customers to Nano showrooms and its dedicated Nano plant at Sanand in Gujarat is running much below even half its capacity despite discounts and other freebies.

“We are coming out with power steering options (on Nano), improved interiors and exteriors and better fuel efficiency,” Mistry said.

According to the latest Siam data, market share of Tata Motors dived to 8.9 per cent in July in the passenger car space, from 11.8 per cent in March, pushing it down to the fourth slot. For commercial vehicles, the share slipped to 52.9 per cent from 56.1 per cent during the same period.

In the April-June quarter, Tata Motors’ standalone sales declined 14 per cent from a year earlier, pulling down its annualised manufacturing capacity utilisation to a low 36.2 per cent, from 47.6 per cent in the fiscal ended March 2013, said a Moody’s report dated August 19. It also warned of credit rating of the company due to the steeply falling market share and sales volumes.