Nano adds just 1 unit in June as end of the road nears
11 Jul 2018
Tata Nano added just one unit in June, down from 275 in June last year, as the world’s cheapest car faced certain death. Exports were zero, against 25 in June 2017. After nearly 10 years of its launch, it is the end of the road for the small car.
The company had acknowledged that the car in its “present form cannot continue beyond 2019.”
The end of the “people’s car,” as Tata Motors branded it in 2008, is in stark contrast to the car market in India that is steadily growing. Nano lost because it failed to realise the real market. While consumers may be value-conscious, sacrificing quality for cutting costs won’t help car makers improve sales.
The Nano’s failure to sell has been more of a failure of quality in a market where everything from motorbikes to cars and trucks have been posting growth.
Sales of passenger vehicles, including SUVs, jumped 38 per cent% in June. Commercial vehicle sales climbed 42 per cent, while two-wheelers – which dominate the market – gained 22 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the nation’s biggest carmaker, posted volume growth of more than 40 per cent. Even a newly defined segment, the quadricycle – a vehicle that weighs less than 475 kilos – is showing signs of an uptick.
The much-touted Nano – hailed as a “milestone in frugal engineering” – fell short on safety, ran behind schedule and produced questionable crash test results.
Eicher Motors Ltd’s Multix pickup truck that doubled up as an electricity generator was also unsuccessful. Both companies have written off millions of dollars in investment costs.
A spokesman for the group said the Nano “may need fresh investments to survive.”