Dealers promise instant delivery of Nano, but Tata differs

In a contradiction of sorts, car dealers here are offering Nano off the shelf, even as Tata Motors claims that it is delivering only against the original one lakh bookings for the world's cheapest car.

A Tata Motors spokesperson said the company was selling Nanos to those who already have bookings as per schedule and at the same price as was committed during the bookings.

The spokesperson kept repeating the same answer when asked about the dealers' claim that Nano, the Rs 1 lakh car, was now available off the shelf, despite an order backlog of over 60,000 units.

The dealers' claim comes amid reports that Tatas are hiking the price of the car by up to Rs 15,000, an issue on which the company spokesperson said: "Tata Motors has not made any decision on any price increase on the Tata Nano."

Forced to shift from its original plant at Singur in West Bengal to Sanand in Gujarat, Tata Motors had decided to take bookings of the Nano in April 2009 through a lottery system due to production constraints and deliver the first one lakh units by 2010.

While the company had recently stated that open market sales of Nano are likely to begin by August with its Sanand plant going into production mode, dealers said the base model can now be purchased within a period of just two days.

"The base model is almost readily available. You can book today and take the delivery tomorrow," a staffer at a New Delhi showroom said.

Another dealer said that medium and top-end versions of the car would take longer to deliver.

"If booked today, the top-end model can be delivered in 15-20 days," he added.

Tata Motors has handed over only 37,425 units till May this year since July 2009. The firm had selected 1.55 lakh customers through a draw, and only the first one lakh buyers were declared price protected.

Nano, touted as the world's cheapest car, is available at Rs 1.23 lakh-Rs 1.72 lakh (ex-showroom price, New Delhi).

When asked how they could entertain new bookings when the first 1 lakh cars were yet to be delivered by the company, a dealer said that it was being done through "management quota".

"You have to write an application to Tata Motors and it will be registered for booking... The car will be delivered under management quota," the dealer official said.

Earlier, the company was supplying Nano from its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand in limited numbers.

It had inaugurated the mother plant for Nano at Sanand in Gujarat earlier this month. The plant has a capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum.