Tata Nano tanking used car market in India
click above to view more images of the Tata Nano
Anticipation for the Tata Nano in India is so high that the country's used car market is taking a dive ahead of the car's arrival later this year. Autocar is reporting that sales for India's current most popular and cheapest car, a used Maruti 800, have already fallen 30 percent, and sales for a brand new Maruti 800 were down 20 percent last month. The Maruti is actually a rebadged version of the older Suzuki Altos. At nearly 200,000 rupees, it's about twice as much to buy new as the $2,500 Tata Nano will be, despite being a smaller car. Indian car buyers apparently are not dumb. Why buy a new or used car today when you can wait until the end of the year and get a new Tata Nano for much less? The used car market in India could rebound a bit, however, after the Nano debuts. All those people waiting to buy one now might not end up liking the world's cheapest car after they get a chance to drive one.
[Source: Autocar via Winding Road]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Level 3:05PM (2/08/2008)
So when is this golf cart coming to the US?
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John P. 3:09PM (2/08/2008)
I wish it would come to the U.S. I'd buy one for the novelty.
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Harrison 3:10PM (2/08/2008)
I'd buy one and stick in a 426 Hemi.
I jest, I jest.
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Menice 3:17PM (2/08/2008)
to think we all await the camaro, or challenger or GT-R.... and in India, the hottest car is this.
seems everyone in india is saving up, laying awake, talking about at the water cooler, all up in a tizzy over the Nano..... is this even gonna be the "Chick Magnet" car over there?
(bet you can change the rims and intake w/out f'ing things up....a la gt-r)
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Spike 3:19PM (2/08/2008)
Are navigation and leather available as options?
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Jay 3:19PM (2/08/2008)
All I think of when I see that car is that it's a 21st Century version of Stan Mott's Cyclops I.
http://www.sbiii.com/cyclops.html
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Mr. Blake 3:24PM (2/08/2008)
I never get used to the complete and total utter ugliness of this "thing."
How fast do you have to go to get those tires to blow?
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Nick 3:27PM (2/08/2008)
It looks like the Urkel Mobile
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Zane 3:35PM (2/08/2008)
Aha .. and to think my Ultraleggeras and Bridgestone Pole Positions are more expensive than the entire bloody car! :D
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GDUB 3:42PM (2/08/2008)
Makes the honda fit look like a Cadillac Eldorado
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2004m3driver 3:42PM (2/08/2008)
The machined magnesium windshield wiper nobs on the Veyron cost more than this car. (4800)
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Richard S. 3:43PM (2/08/2008)
This car is cheaper to buy than to fix your average sedan or minivan in a car-crash.....
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Zane 3:58PM (2/08/2008)
Other cars *might* be cheaper for your health and safety than your average Nano in a car crash ..
dskinner 3:49PM (2/08/2008)
I have a 60 mile roundtrip to work so in thoery, if the Nano drove well on the freeway, I would happily take one...
...Can't say my wife would get into somthing that looked like that though.
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Chris Carey 4:07PM (2/08/2008)
Hey look someone made a commuter car for my 8 year old, oh wait thats a real car. I think my son's go cart has wheels bigger than that. Its probably safer too.
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chrisdavis 4:09PM (2/08/2008)
Sounds like now is the time to get that used Maruti 800 I've had my eye on.
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Steven 4:14PM (2/08/2008)
How fast is it 'round the 'Ring?
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kenyan_boy 4:22PM (2/08/2008)
"All those people waiting to buy one now might not end up liking the world's cheapest car after they get a chance to drive one."
Those who utter such words probably have never visited India or have not experienced the 'common person' lifestyle there. Most people there rely on a motorcycle as a daily means of transportation. Owning a car, even if the Tata Nano is 'yuck' to many westerners, is an increase in one's status. "Wow, you have a new car?"
Moreover, this car isn't designed for highway use, but city use primarily. Have you tried driving in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahemadabad? Manhattan is nothing compared to it. Heck, driving in Kenya is nothing compared to driving in India. Sheer madness is what comes to mind when I get in a car in India. And yes, I've driven in parts of Mumbai.
I'm not a 'rah rah' guy neither am I a naysayer, but give the Nano a chance. It's no point comparing the Nano for the US Interstates where it's on the road with an 18-wheeler. Similarly, no point trying to drive a Ford Excursion through tiny one-way streets in Asia, or even in small towns in Europe.
What Tata have done is to design a vehicle for the conditions and demographic of India. Just as Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn said a thinking shift is required for the next generation of cars, as car sales are dropping in Western Europe and Japan due to demographic changes and increased use of reliable public transportation.
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Polly Prissy Pants 9:55AM (2/09/2008)
I'm right there with you on the Indian drivers, and based on that how many lives is this rolling coffin going to take with it? If I'm tooling around the streets of Mumbai I want a full roll cage, 10 airbags and a cow catcher on the front. Maybe a crash helmet too. I don't see how you'd survive more than 12-18 months on a bike.
patrick 4:24PM (2/08/2008)
How Many Blondes Would It. . . . . . . Oh Nevermind
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