Tata Motors has put the plans of a diesel-powered Nano on hold for now. It is currently focusing on the upcoming GenX Nano with which it hopes to revive Nano sales.
When Tata Motors started developing the Nano, a dream project of Mr. Ratan Tata, it had high hopes from the car. But due to certain turn of events, the most affordable car in the world didn’t really fare very well in terms of sales. But, the Indian automaker decided not to give up on the vehicle and kept improvising it almost every year. To widen the scope of the Nano further, the company had decided to plonk in a diesel mill in it to improve its efficiency. But, the plan has been put down on the priority list for now.
The major reasons for delaying the launch of the Nano diesel are refinement of the engine as well as economics related reasons. The current petrol unit also suffers from poor refinement levels in comparison to other cars and the diesel would most certainly be poorer than that which wouldn’t be accepted by the demanding Indian consumer. Improving the refinement and NVH levels would take a lot of time and many components would need to be reworked. Hence the diesel engined Nano might not be ready for the next few years.
Another reason for the delay of plans is the diminishing difference between petrol and diesel prices and the deregulation of diesel prices. This has led to a shift in demand towards petrol cars once again. With increasing traffic in major cities, automatic transmission cars are also gaining popularity. Hence Tata will soon be launching the Nano GenX with AMT and will be focusing majorly on the same. At an expected price tag of under Rs. 3.5 lakhs (on-road), the Nano AMT should be a sales success and should add some numbers to the falling tally of Tata Motors.
