Wed, March 04, 2009
GENEVA – India's Tata Motors said at the Geneva Motor Show Tuesday that it aims to put its low cost Nano on sale in Europe in 2010- 2011 and build a reputation as a builder of "affordable and robust" vehicles.
Tata group chairman Ratan Tata unveiled a European version of the Nano sporting airbags and leather trim which is being engineered to meet local safety and emissions standards.
The Indian group also presented an electric version of its Indica sub-compact, with a claimed range of 250 kilometres (155 miles) which is due to go on sale in Norway from September.
It also unveiled a prototype of an Italian-designed luxury saloon that it is aiming to market in collaboration with engineering and design firm Pininfarina within two to three years.
The car, however, will be made in India, Tata insisted.
"What we would be very happy to do is to have a presence in Europe and be able to provide affordable cars to the driving public of Europe and overcome perhaps an image of less reliable, less robust products, and to meet world standards," said Tata.
The company announced last week that the four door micro-car, which it has billed as the world' cheapest car, would arrive in Indian showrooms in April, after months of delays.
"We displayed it here last year as the car developed for India and today we are displaying the car that we hope we can introduce in Europe, which would meet all European emission and safety standards by 2010, 2011," Tata said.
"The car will be a statement of what we feel can be done in a developing country and we hope that it will receive a great deal of attraction in western Europe," he told reporters at the preview days of the Geneva show
The price, likely to be much higher than in India because of the extra engineering and equipment, will be announced closer to the launch, Tata added.
German newspaper Bild reported recently that the Nano could have a price tag in Europe of around 5,000 euros (6,350 dollars).
The Tata brand is currently only present in a chosen handful of European markets such as Poland, Italy and Spain. The parent group also owns luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover which it bought from struggling US auto giant Ford.
The Nano will go on sale in India in April, the company said last week.
The planned price was just 100,000 rupees (2,000 dollars) for the basic model but the final level will be announced at the Indian launch later this month.
(Agencies)
