Fiat and Tata
Motors plan to jointly sell the latter's low-cost Nano,
which has just gone on sale across India in the last week,
jointly in Latin America according to Tata Chairman Ratan
Tata speaking in a newspaper interview published today.
Talking to La Stampa newspaper Ratan Tata foresees an
expansion of the current joint venture between the Italian
and Indian carmakers which currently covers areas such as
joint manufacturing, purchasing and retailing as well as the
sharing of technology.
"We have various
projects, to take the Nano to Latin America together, to
share platforms for new cars, we have projects for Iveco and
also for us to sell Ferrari and Maserati," Tata told La
Stampa during the interview in this morning's edition.
"We are talking about a lot of things."
Tata Motors has
long eyed breaking into the Latin American new vehicle arena
and with Fiat being the biggest player in the region's key
market, Brazil, working closely with its joint venture
partner is a logical way to get a foothold. Plans for Fiat
to build a 1-ton Tata pick-up at its factory at Córdoba in
Argentina, to be badged by both companies, fell through last
year when Fiat felt that the proposed vehicle wasn't
suitable for the market.
The Nano is the
latest affordable motoring sensation, with the ultra-cheap
four-door car being priced at just 100,000 rupees in India,
just over two thousand dollars excluding taxes. In the La
Stampa newspaper interview today Tata also revealed that
the tiny car has now passed mandatory European crash tests
and will go on sale in Europe from 2011.
However, only last
week the Nano finally went on sale in India after a
year-and-a-half gestation period since its public unveiling,
and Ashok Raghunath Vichare of Mumbai became the very first
customer to collect a Nano. Vichare received his choice, in
LX specification, at the hands of Ratan Tata. Speaking
during the handover occasion, Tata said, “I hope the Tata
Nano will bring motoring pleasure to those who will be
buying their first car as also those who currently own cars
but want a modern, contemporary, emission-friendly city
car.”
The Nano can comfortably seat four adults. With a length of
just 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6
metres, the Nano has the smallest exterior footprint for a
car in India but is 21 percent more spacious than the
smallest car available today. A high seating position makes
getting in an out easy. Its small size coupled with a
turning radius of just 4 metres, makes it extremely
manoeuvrable in the smallest of parking slots.
The three trim levels and their key features available at
launch are: Nano Standard: The standard version, in three
colour options, single-tone seats, and fold-down rear seat;
Nano CX: In five colour options, with heating and
air-conditioning (HVAC), two-tone seats, parcel shelf,
booster-assisted brakes, fold-down rear seat with nap rest;
and Nano LX: With the features of CX plus complete fabric
seats, central locking, front power windows, body coloured
exteriors in three premium colours, fog lamps, electronic
trip meter, cup holder in front console, mobile charger
point, and rear spoiler. Many of these features are not
available on current entry-level small cars in the country.
The 2-cylinder engine delivers 35 PS at 5250 rpm and a
torque of 48 Nm at 3000 rpm, enabling the car to have a top
speed of 105 km/h and negotiate inclines with a gradeability
of 30 percent. Fuel efficiency is 23.6 km/litre, certified
by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) under
mandated test conditions, which is the highest for any
petrol car in India. The high fuel efficiency, coupled with
a low kerb weight of 600 kg, ensures that the Nano, at 101
gm/km, has the lowest CO2 emission amongst cars in India.
The Nano's safety performance exceeds current regulatory
requirements and it passes the roll-over test and offset
impact, which are not regulated in India. It has an all
sheet-metal body, reinforced passenger compartment, crumple
zones, intrusion-resistant doors, besides mandatory seat
belts and complies fully with existing Indian safety
standards. Tubeless tyres, among which the rear ones are
wider endowing extra stability, enhance safety.
