Hills give thumbs up to Nano

In less than a year after it hit the market, Nano, the ultra low-cost car of Tata Motors, is now whizzing past steep zigzag roads in the hills of Uttarakhand.

Inquiries from local dealers revealed that performance of Nano is commendable especially in the rugged Himalayan region where its popularity graph is growing. The small car is now giving a mileage of 21.5 km per litter with hardly any complaints, said the dealers.

In less than a year, Nano is now being seen in all the hilly areas like Chamoli, Rudrapryag, Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and the hill resort of Mussoorie. “We have customers who are driving down from the hills to the plains once or twice a week now,” said Rakesh Oberai, a dealer of Tata Motors.

Similarly, Nano is also being sold in other mountainous areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh also.

The hilly region of Pauri in Uttarakhand tops the chart with 7 customers buying Nano. Similarly, 5 people have so far bought the car in Tehri district. The number may be small but the list is growing gradually.

The small car is also being liked in rural areas also. People donning dhoti-kurta and driving Nano are also being seen in areas like Sahaspur and Vikasnagar where road conditions are bad. Rajendra Singh (65), who hails from Sahaspur, was among the first persons, who came to book a Nano car at a Tata Motors showroom last year.

The enthusiasm in Uttarakhand seems to be high in view of the small car being rolled out from the Pantnagar plant of Tata Motors with a capacity of producing 50,000 cars. The company has told the state government that it would continue the production of Nano from Pantnagar.