Tata says it sells over 51,000 Nano "booking forms" in five days
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Apr 7th 2009 at 2:35PM 
Click above for a high res image gallery of the Tata Nano
Tata knew pent-up demand for its super-cheap Nano would be so high in advance of its official delivery date that the Indian automaker set up an unique pre-ordering system allowing potential customers to sign up with booking forms. After all these forms have been collected, a computer will randomly choose the first 100,000 people to take possession in July.
That process began just five days ago on April 1st, and Tata has already sold over 51,000 booking forms to its dealer network and individual customers, with another 30,000 or so being taken from a number of Tata partners. Each order form is being sold for 300 Rupees, which is about $6.00 in U.S. funds. Prices for individual Nanos are reportedly ranging from between 95,000 and 145,000 Rupees ($1,880 to $2,780), which officially makes this the World's Cheapest Car.
One thing seems sure: Tata is going to sell a ton of these cars. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on your particular viewpoint. It's almost a certainty that people will be safer in the four-wheeled enclosed Nano than on the little scooters and cycles they are currently riding, but a number of environmental groups have voiced concerns over the impact this many new cars will have on their surroundings. Regardless of how this ultimately plays out, this is only the beginning.
Gallery: Tata Nano
[Source: Economic Times]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Wobbly_ears 2:48PM (4/07/2009)
What a sign of times....
The auto powerhouse of the last century GM possibly filing bankruptcy.
And an emergence of automotive giants from India & China like Tata, Mahindra, Chery, SAIC etc.
This is going to be one interesting century folks, old players would be relegated & new ones rise.
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john 7:09PM (4/07/2009)
let see 51k*$2000=102,000,000. Not bad at all TATA, I hope your profit margin is large.
harlanx6 2:54PM (4/07/2009)
Mr Tata is amazing. Here they come! They can't build them fast enough to satisfy demand. Tata has the real potential of becoming #1 in the world in terms of units sold.
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P B 2:54PM (4/07/2009)
It's the Model-T for the 21st century.
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Andrew 2:56PM (4/07/2009)
"a number of environmental groups have voiced concerns over the impact this many new cars will have on their surroundings"
I'm sure they have. And I bet most of those "environmentalists" already own a nice home, two cars, and a dang computer that costs more than this new car. Shame on those poor, hard-working Indians who will suddenly enjoy a standard of living that rich, pontificating, American environmentalists take for granted.
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BLS 3:03PM (4/07/2009)
But they drive a Prius. That makes up for the house the Suburban and the computer.
And they have one question for you. "Are you part of the solution or part of the problem?"
Because they are saving the world just by driving.
David 3:21PM (4/07/2009)
Well said!
I hope to piss off these folks by driving one around Atlanta one day!
greenchile505 9:45PM (4/07/2009)
Who said the enviromentalists are American? Just asking...
Rob 4:49PM (4/07/2009)
Radical environmentalists don't care about people. They would prefer if we went back to the stone age and half of us would disappear.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5950442.ece
Harrison 7:30PM (4/07/2009)
haha nice.
It's funny how those "mainstream" environmentalists preach to us about staying green, yet flaunt methods most of us can't even begin to afford.
waiownsyou 3:01PM (4/07/2009)
Damn, a new car cheaper than some high-end Macs or the cost of a two-year contract with your cell phone carrier... talk about aggressive pricing!
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Level 5 3:21PM (4/07/2009)
Parents beware, if the Tata Nano comes stateside, your excuses for not buying your 16 year old brat a car are running out.
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the_MVP_X 3:24PM (4/07/2009)
Only idiot folks would buy their kids crappy plastic cars like that, it's a rolling plastic coffin.
Bloke 4:13PM (4/07/2009)
All cars are coffins when faced with people with no ability to drive properly.
010111 11:36PM (4/07/2009)
"Only idiot folks would buy their kids crappy plastic cars like that, it's a rolling plastic coffin."
exactly. which is why we need more teenagers in Suburbans and Escalades and lifted F150s. so they are super snuggley safe.
screw everyone else sharing the road with them... hell. don't even make sure they are remotely safe or responsible drivers first. just let em loose in the biggest "safest" thing you can find.
the_MVP_X 3:22PM (4/07/2009)
Who cares...*yawn*.
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Wobbly_ears 3:27PM (4/07/2009)
While you yawn & drive in your car owned by bank, most of the people driving Nanos would have paid cash.
Who's better?
World is changing son, stop smirking & get used to it.
the_MVP_X 3:32PM (4/07/2009)
Yeah, it's changing in bad, anyone wants to come with me to Mars?
Bloke 4:15PM (4/07/2009)
Wobby ... does MPV X sound old enough to even drive to you? He/she/it certainly doesn't to me.
Judy Zik 4:24PM (4/07/2009)
The number of people who care would be in the Billions. Unfortunately Ford and GM are barely even players in the Massive Indian market. Toyota has a lock on the Minivan market with it's Innova. Otherwise it's all Tata, Suzuki and Mahindra.
Few cars in India have Air Bags or any high end safety features but since traffic rarely gets a chance to travel over 40km it doesn't make much difference. Despite all the hype and how scarey a place it is to drive most fatalities are pedestrians and people on two wheelers. In a place where 4 people can routinely go around on one moped it is pretty easy to imagine what a difference the Nano will make.