Tata Nano, the world's most affordable car from the stables of Tata is likely to hit US roads by 2015. Nano is all set to drive into the western world with some changes to its version being sold in the country. Given that Tata has nil US retail network, the question is whether Nano would be successful in the US market.
Tata Motors, which has witnessed a global slowdown in its vehicles sales in the month of September and has even reported a dip in Jaguar Land Rover sales, however, has not lost its ambitions for the Nano's release in the US.
Speaking on the opening ceremony of a Jaguar Land Rover dealership in the US, Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Motors said that Nano would be ready for launch in the US market in three years with a price tag below $ 10,000.
Abdul Majeed, Partner, National Automotive leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), talking about it said, “With the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, they would be better off in an European country as far as distribution is concerned. Europeans have long been fans of small cars, because smaller tends to mean more fuel efficient.”
Tata Motors also needs to learn a lot from the mistake that its competitor M&M made. Although Tata has lost its place to Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), which sold four times as many sports utility vehicles (SUVs) as Tata in the Indian market, the company should learn from M&M's bitter court battle with Global Vehicles USA, M&M's US importer and distributor.
“If the Tata's want to become a global OEM (original equipment manufacturer), a firm presence in the North American market is vital. It is important to do that otherwise it will be extremely difficult to achieve the goal,” said PwC's Majeed.
Talking about the future of Nano in the US market, Ratan Tata pointed out that small cars like the Mini Cooper and the Smart Fortwo are quite popular. This indirectly implied that Nano, with a lower price tag would lure a good number of buyers. The nearest competitor to Nano in the US would be Nissan Versa, though it is quite large in size and is currently the cheapest car at around $11,990.
