Tata starts open sales of Nano

Tata Motors on Tuesday said it has started open sales of its small car, Nano, in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

In a statement the company said customers in these states that have not booked a Nano so far can now purchase the Nano directly from showrooms.

"Customers will be able to take a closer look at and test drive the Tata Nano across all Tata Motors dealerships and special Nano access points," it said.

Tata Motors had started open sales of the Nano in Kerala from August. Tata Motors has tied up with 25 banks to offer loans for purchasing the Tata Nano at attractive rates of interest and more such arrangements are being put in place, it said.

Last year, it had selected 1.55 lakh customers for delivering the car in two phases. It is in the process of delivering the car to the first one lakh customers, which will be completed by the end of this year.

In July, the company had increased the price of the Nano by 3-4 per cent, which translated into a hike of Rs 3,700 to Rs 6,894 for different variants, based on ex-showroom (Delhi) prices.

The first one lakh customers were, however, price-protected and will get their cars at the announced price of Rs 1.23 lakh-Rs 1.72 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Tata Motors had launched the Nano, touted as the world's cheapest car, in 2009.

It produces the car from Sanand, in Gujarat, and the facility has installed capacity for production of 2.5 lakh units annually. The car was originally planned to be produced at Singur, in West Bengal, but the firm had to shift the location following political opposition.