Customers of the Tata Nano have always found the steering to be heavy and the complaints were especially high amongst senior drivers. This could be attributed to the lack of power steering in the car. However, the company will bridge the gap in mid January next year with the launch of the Tata Nano Twist (on the 13th of January) which gets a ZF manufactured power steering unit. The upgraded Nano with the power steering will be priced at a Rs. 12,000/- premium.
The Tata Nano which is touted as the “People’s car” was expected to take the Indian market by storm being a worthy alternative for a diverse range of people from young professionals to middle class families who use two-wheelers. However, the Nano is currently struggling to sell in good numbers in India. Last month Tata Motors sold just 1055 units of the Nano in the Indian market.
Tata Motors has been doing everything possible to prevent the sales of its “world’s cheapest car” from plummeting including launches of glamorous colours and eco-friendly variants. The latest move by the Indian marque is to offer power steering to the Nano making it very convenient to drive around. Five variants of the Tata Nano are offered in Indian market currently and they include the Nano STD, Nano CX, Nano LX, Nano CNG CX and Nano CNG LX. The Tata Nano Twist will be the new variant to join this lineup. At the heart of all these variants lies a 0.6-litre petrol engine which produces a peak output of 37.4 BHP and a torque of 51 Nm, mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.
The prices for the Tata Nano start at Rs. 1.65 lakhs and goes up to Rs. 2.31 lakhs (ex-showroom, Mumbai). With the Nano Twist, the price of the top-end Nano will touch Rs. 3 lakhs (on-road, Mumbai).
