The Hindu Business Line : Nano gets over 2 lakh bookings

The booking window was open from April 9 to 25. The release states that 6.10 lakh booking forms were sold through dealerships, Westside/Croma outlets and banks. Of the total bookings, 70 per cent were financed while the rest of the applicants paid up wholly in cash.

Nearly 50 per cent of the bookings, involving down payment of Rs 1.4 lakh, were for the top-end Nano LX costing Rs 1.9 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai), followed by 30 per cent for the mid-end Nano CX (Rs 1.2 lakh for a Rs 1.63 lakh car). Only 20 per cent opted for the Rs 1.34 lakh Nano Standard, paying Rs 95,000 upfront.

The total number of bookings caught industry circles by surprise since they expected nearly three times as much for the world’s least expensive car. Yet, the fact remains that the down-payment did not come in cheap and took up over 70 per cent of the price of the car. Corresponding amounts for other compact cars from the Maruti and Hyundai stables are a lot lower though they are priced more. “Had the Nano down-payment been fixed at a level of Rs 40,000-50,000, the total number of bookings would have exceeded six lakh. The bottomline is that Tata Motors has received Rs 2,500 crore while sales of forms fetched an additional Rs 18 crore,” sources said.

Customers could have also been deterred by the prospects of waiting for months on end to get their cars. After all, the interim plant at Pantnagar can only produce 50,000 Nanos annually and big numbers can only be envisaged once the Sanand facility in Gujarat is commissioned next yearAccording to the present arrangement, the first one lakh allottees will be chosen through a computerised random selection procedure. Their names will be announced within 60 days of closure of the booking (June 25). Applicants who do not mind waiting will be paid interest while those keen on cancelling their bookings will be refunded in full. Deliveries will begin in July and are expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2010.