India launches world's cheapest car: The Nano

Mar 23, 2009, 15:40 GMT

New Delhi - Tata Motors' Nano, the world's cheapest car, that is expected to redefine personal transportation in modern India, was launched in the country's financial hub of Mumbai on Monday.

The commercial roll-out of the Nano, costing 100,000 rupees (about 1,984 dollars), comes 14 months after its prototype attracted global attention at a car show in New Delhi in January 2008.

Three Nanos with blinking headlights drove onto a stage at a

glitzy function in Mumbai Monday evening where a presenter introduced it as a 'car that will change the world'.

'The product is before you and it meets all that it set out to do,' Tata Motors chairman Rata Tata said, adding that the vehicle would enable Indian families to own an affordable, all-weather mode of transportation.

The company kept the ex-factory price of the base model of the car at 100,000 rupees. The Nano would cost 112,735 rupees after transportation charges and value-added tax at the showrooms.

'I'm pleased to say that the promise (of a 100,000-rupee car) has been kept today. A promise is a promise,' the 71-year old chairman of India's largest business house said.

The bookings for the 'People's Car' are to be taken from April 9 - 25. The first 100,000 recipients would be selected by a ballot.

The Nano is to hit Indian roads in early July when deliveries are expected to begin.