NID may give a facelift to Nano

With sales plummeting and the Sanand factory running at less than 50 per cent of the installed capacity of 2.50 lakh cars a year, Tata Motors Ltd may plan to give a facelift to the very design of the world's cheapest car what with the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID) approaching it.

Already, after selling 1.30 lakh cars since its launch in April 2009, the company had launched a new-look Nano this week, with mileage increased from 23.6 kmph to 25.4 kmph and more colour choices being provided, without changing the price-tag of the 624-cc vehicle.

Now, with NID, an autonomous design school under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, approaching it, Tata Motors has approved to send a Nano car to India's premier design institute for its students to study it and give possible suggestions to redesign the car.

Prof Pradyumna Vyas, Director, NID, told Business Line on Friday that the world-class design institute had approached Tata Motors in this regard as Ahmedabad has emerged as an automobile hub with many global and national companies setting up shop in Gujarat.

NID students have, over the years, worked on academic projects with global automobile majors like Ford, Renault, Pininfarina and Maruti-Suzuki.

NID, he said, has a world-class academic course at the post-graduate level and latest facilities in transportation and automobile designing. Other disciplines, like textile design, product design and lifestyle accessories, may also provide inputs in Nano's design, he added.

NID had proposed an industry-institute partnership to which Tata Motors agreed. It will mutually benefit both. Students at the post-graduate campus of NID in Gandhinagar would soon start work on this academic project. NID has students from all across India, who may give inputs from different perspectives, he said.

Prof Vyas, however, clarified that the partnership is mainly for academic purposes and Tata Motors may or may not accept the suggestions given to it by creative young designers. They will be designing new looks of Nano, its ergonomics, exterior and interior designs. Even if non-executable, the car company is expected to get some really good ideas which it may implement.

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