The Hindu Business Line : How customers can book their Nano

Mumbai, March 23 “Tata Nano: Now within Reach.” This is Tata Motors’ tag line as it gets set for a marketing blitzkrieg through online gaming and other non-conventional media to retail the people’s car.

SBI tie-up

Expecting a huge customer demand, way above what it can meet in the near term, the company has entered into an exclusive tie-up with State Bank of India to manage the booking process.

There is a 15-day window for booking the Nano, from April 9 to 25. The application forms will be sold at Rs 300 apiece at over 30,000 locations and in about 1,000 cities through Tata Motors dealerships, SBI branches, other preferred financiers as well as outlets of Westside, Croma, the ‘World of Titan’ and Tata Indicom exclusive stores. Customers can pay the entire booking amount themselves or seek appropriate financing.

Tata Motors has entered into agreements with 15 preferred financiers for the Nano booking loan product. “The booking product offered by these banks will enable a Tata Nano to be booked by paying an amount starting Rs 2,999 only. Their chosen financier will directly submit their application forms to the State Bank of India on their behalf,” said a company statement.

Those who choose to cough up the entire amount can submit their application forms to the 1,350 notified SBI branches, Tata Motors dealerships, Westside and Croma outlets.

Online bookings

In addition, the company offers an option to submit bookings online at www.tatanano.com. Within 60 days of the closure of bookings, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotments of 1,00,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries through a computerised random selection procedure. These allotments will be price-protected for the launch prices till delivery of the cars but the booking amounts will not bear any interest for customers. Deliveries of the car will begin in July.

Applicants have the option to retain their booking deposit, even if they do not get allotment in the first phase. Those who choose this option will be eligible for interest on their deposit, effective from the date of allotment of the second phase, at 8 per cent for the retention period between one and two years and 8.75 per cent for over two years. Allotment of retainees will be simultaneously communicated along with the allotment of the first 1,00,000 cars.

To cash in on the huge interest Nano has already generated, Tata Motors has charted out an innovative marketing strategy that involves unconventional practices in booking, financing, merchandising and advertising.

Merchandising

The company is ready with a range of merchandise including Nano phone, Nano watch, T-shirts which will be available at dealerships and Croma and Westside outlets. On the advertisement strategy, Mr Rajiv Dube, President, Passenger Cars, said print advertisements will kick off on Tuesday while a lot of publicity would be generated through the Internet. “We will be relying more on innovative methods like word-of-mouth publicity,” he added.

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