Tata Motors dealers have sold over 51,000 forms for the Nano in just five days since they became available from April 1, according to Indian media sources.
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The Economic Times newspaper noted that the company is likely to manufacture just 50,000 cars in the first year, suggesting that waiting lists will be long.
“The response has been quite good, even though customers have not been given a chance to test-drive the car,” said an official at a Mumbai-based Tata Motors dealership, who asked not to be named.
The rush isn’t just coming from customers, but also from dealers. The ET said that some are understood to have picked up as many as 20,000 forms each.
Customer curiosity has been vetted by the fact that the company hasn’t displayed the Nano at all dealerships. Tata Motors dealers say almost half the customers visiting their showrooms to check out the Nano are buying forms, with most of the enquiries related to the top-end variant.
More than 10,000 forms have been sold in Delhi through Tata dealerships and associate companies (Westside, World of Titan & Croma), SBI branches and 14 other preferred banks. “There has been a huge response to the Nano and we ran out of forms at one of our dealerships at Connaught Place,” said one dealer.
The newspaper said that Tata Motors is doing its best to ensure that there is no black market for the car, post-allotment. The terms and conditions listed on the booking form say the company will allot “only one Tata Nano car per person, to be selected in accordance with the procedure set out.”
The form also mentions that applicants may not get their chosen model or colour, due to production constraints. It adds, “In case Tata Motors is not able to match the preference, Tata Motors will offer the other available variant. The differential amount will be adjusted at the time of delivery.”
