Tata to Launch -World's Cheapest Car "Nano" On March 23

Tata Motors Ltd. has set March 23 as the launch date for its 100,000 rupees minicar, about three months behind initial schedule.

Bookings for the Nano -- the world's cheapest passenger car -- will begin in the second week of April, . Booking process and other details will be announced at the time of launch

Nano is likely to be offered to “select customers”, including celebrities, sportspersons and leading politicians as part of Tata Motors plan to re-create the hype and excitement which was there when the Rs. 1-lakh car was first unveiled before the world in the Auto Expo 2008. Tata Motors is still trying to recover from the setback it suffered due to the Singur land row that led to the scrapping of its production facility in West Bengal, which was then shifted to Gujarat. It now wants to make the launch event memorable and historic. Through the grand launch, it also wants to erase the bad publicity that the company and the nation got in the world media due to the land dispute that delayed the Nano launch.

The booking amount for Nano is likely to be around Rs. 70,000. The company has announced the prices of Nano between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 1.34 lakh. Initially, the company would take bookings of just one lakh cars as mass production of the vehicle would be possible only by 2010, and till then only 3,000 cars a month are likely to be manufactured.