The world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano, gave a test drive by driving from the Pantnagar manufacturing unit to hilly town of Gopeshwar. It surprised the residents of Gopeshwar in Chamoli district in Dehra Dun when the car went for a test drive in the town driving down the serpentine and tough hilly roads. According to the company sources, it was one of the toughest tests being conducted by Tata Motors’ engineers. The car is expected to give mileage of 17-20 kmpl in the hilly region.
“We have conducted the test drive of Nano in the hills of Uttarakhand and Pune. Initial reports are very encouraging,” said an official of the Tata Motors plant at Pantnagar. He also stated that the exact launch date of the car is yet to be decided by the company chairman, Ratan Tata. The company has already committed to Uttrakhand government that the first car shall roll out from the state. The government has already allocated 45 acres of extra land to Tata Motors to facilitate the production of the world’s cheapest car. Tata Motors currently manufactures its Ace trucks at its Pantnagar facility.
The commercial launch of Tata Nano was slated for October 2008 but the violent protests from the farmers in West Bengal in Singur forced the company to shut down its nearly complete plant and relocate the complete manufacturing unit to Sanand in Gujarat. The company shall roll out only limited number of Nano from the Pantnagar unit and shall commence a complete commercial launch early next year when the Sanand plant is fully operational.
