The Hindu Business Line : First day of Nano display is a quiet affair

Mumbai, April 1 No incessant flow of customers, no long queues for booking forms and no media hype, the first day of the public display of the Nano was much quieter than expected. A majority of the public was unaware of Nano being displayed at the select dealerships as well as Tata Group’s retail outlets Westside and Croma.

Tata Motors had said the car would be on display at select dealerships across the country from April 1. Enquiries with dealers in other cities revealed that they hoped to have the car for display on Thursday.

“I expected a huge crowd here. Only 40 people have bought booking forms as of now. It doesn’t sound great,” said Mr Nirmal Shah, who walked into Concorde at Prabhadevi in the afternoon, said. Concorde is owned by Tata Motors.

Although the hustle and bustle was absent, at least a third of the visitors were serious buyers who bought the booking forms that cost Rs 300. According to the available information, less than a 500 Nano booking forms were sold in Mumbai on Thursday through the Tata group owned outlets. Branches of the State Bank of India will also sell and receive booking forms.

Booking forms were not available at Westside and Croma outlets (both retail stores belonging to the Tata group) on the first day. As many as 81 booking forms were sold at Concorde while 300 forms were sold at Wasan Motors, Chembur.

“I read reviews about the car and now I see it physically. I am impressed,” said Mr Shah, who introduced himself as a software exporter. “We are a large family. We may buy not one but two Nano. For city travel you just need a small car. This could be the best city car,” he said.

The purpose of young taxi owner-driver Mr Dattathreya Patil, who came with his wife, was different. “I have two Indica cars which I use for my taxi business. I want a Nano for personal use”.

Like Mr Shah, Mr Patil also asked the same question, several others had asked – “What can you buy with one and a half lakh?”

One of the oft-repeated queries the sales executives faced was – “Is there a storage space?” Pat come the reply: “The back seat is foldable sir”.

At Westside, Kalagoda, the silver colour Nano attracted lot of women shoppers. Many clicked pictures of Nano on their mobile phone and a few young girls even posed with the car. Many collected brochures, which once again reminded that the car is ‘now within reach’. Ms Sruti, a newly married young professional, said “We were planning to buy one. Nano is within our budget and fulfils our ambition also”.

Many of the young gadget freaks who walked into Croma, Tata’s electronic goods retail outlet, did not even bother to stop by to take a look at the cute yellow car placed at the entrance.

NO NO

Many who walked into the Tata dealerships were disappointed that they could not take the car out for a spin. Although Nano merchandise such as T-shirts, alarm clock and key chains were on display, they weren’t available for sales.

Tata Motors’ sources said merchandise and booking forms will be sold from all dealerships, SBI branches, Croma and Westside outlets from Thursday.

Tata Motors launched the Nano in Mumbai on March 23, in three variants. The car can be booked till April 25 and the company will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase within 60 days of closing the bookings. Deliveries are expected to begin in July.