In March, Tata Motors did not produce any unit of its entry-level small car Nano for the third month in a row. The company also said that it did not sell even a single unit of the vehicle once dubbed as ‘people’s car’, according to a regulatory filing.
Tata Motors has heightened the uncertainty over the future of Nano as the company has so far maintained that no decision has been made yet on the future of Nano, although in its current form it will not meet the new safety and emission norms and may need an infusion of fresh investments.
In a BSE filing, Tata Motors said that there was zero production and sales of Nano in March. In the same month last year, the company had produced 31 units of Nano and sold 29 units.
Tata Motors had reported that there was zero production of Nano in February and January although it sold just one unit in the domestic market during February. Tata Motors also said that there was no export of Nano in February.
In January this year, Tata Motors had reported zero production and sales of the Nano.
A Tata Motors spokesperson said no decision has been made yet on the phase-out of Nano when contacted by a leading news agency.
The spokesperson said, “Decisions on product life cycle is a holistic view taken after considering the market developments, regulations and emerging competitive landscape. Any such decisions are announced as and when it’s taken.”
“Production planning of a car is a conscious management of demand, system inventory and planned efficiencies. Therefore, speculating on the fate of a car based on a month’s production figure is something the company would not like to participate in”, the spokesperson added.
Tata Motors has no plans to invest further on Ratan Tata’s dream car to meet strict emission norm under BS-VI and other upcoming safety regulations as it was hinted earlier by the company officials that production and sales of the Nano would stop from April 2020.
