New Delhi, January 10
Reaching out to common people has always been the drive at the Tata Group. And in unveiling its eagerly awaited People’s Car, Nano, at the country’s biggest auto show here, Tata Motors has done exactly that.

While launching the car, Tata Group chief Ratan Tata also assured that the four-wheeler will cost Rs 1 lakh as promised and meet all safety and emission norms.

However he pointed out, “since we started the project four years back, there has been a steep increase in input cost, but a promise is a promise”.

Ratan Tata, who earlier in the day said he hardly got any sleep through the night in anticipation of the big day at the 9th Auto Expo here, has thrown a challenge to the other car manufacturers by unveiling his product.

The car will cost Rs 1 lakh at the dealer end and would attract value-added tax (VAT) and transportation cost. Tata’s pet project seeks to lure two-wheeler riders into buying the car that costs half as much as those currently in the market.

Introducing the car, Ratan Tata said the petrol driven vehicle boasts of a fuel economy of over 20 km a litre.

Tata assured that Nano would meet Bharat Stage-III emission norms and can also meet the stringent Euro IV norms. The car has also gone through a full frontal crash test as per standard norms, he said.

The critics on their front have been sceptical about the car meeting safety and emission norms pointing out that it was not possible to achieve all that at the cost at which the Tatas are bringing out the car.

Yesterday, Maruti Suzuki India Limited also expressed its sceptcism over the car but had also admitted that it was wary of the new product to be launched.

The Nano is 8 per cent shorter than Maruti 800, the cheapest car on offer currently in India, on bumper- to-bumper length, but is 21 per cent more spacious, Tata claimed. The 624-cc Nano comes with a 33 HP petrol engine, but a diesel variant would also be launched.

The Nano will come in three variants - standard and two deluxe models with air conditioning. The standard version will cost Rs 1 lakh, excluding VAT and transportation.

Earlier reacting to a spate of “unfortunate controversies” that his dream economy car has evoked right from the conception stage, Tata dared competitors to slug it out in the market and not elsewhere.

“In the marketplace, the best wins. I am quite willing to fight in the market place... I urge all players to fight in the market,” Tata said.

Listing out controversies that have bogged the car, he said, “I am somewhat sad that Indians are becoming the greatest critics... Why do we cut us down...Market will decide. Not you or us... If we succeed, we will have broken new ground.”

Answering a wide range of queries from the controversies to the cost and the expectations during a free flowing discussion, Tata said though there was global visibility, but it was one of “disbelief and not of expectations.” What started off as a social issue to provide affordable safe transport as an alternate to two-wheelers, could become an attractive business with the Tata Motors working on variants to the economy car for upmarket buyers, he noted.

“I don’t think we are boxed into a corner. We never said that it will be a Rs 1 lakh car, but it was media speculation that we accepted as a challenge. The concept started as a social issue and not as a business or philanthropy. There will be a base model and several variants for upmarket (consumers) that will add up as an attractive business prospect,” he said.