Tata Nano hits the streets of India

The long awaited Tata Nano hit the streets of India on Thursday with the company and dealers around India confident of strong demand in light of the global economic crisis which has hit the auto industry especially hard.


With a sticker price of 100,000 rupee's ($2000) the Nano is by far the cheapest car in the world. Despite this tempting price, a major concern in many investors minds must have been how India's consumers would be able to secure loans or if they would even be willing to take out a loans for a car in such volatile economic times.

Thankfully the Tata Motors Finance (TMF), the financing arm of Tata Motors, today announced the launch of an attractive loan program which include no upper limit on the number of cars to be booked through TMF, once the customers have submitted the forms a booking amount would be made to Tata Motors on behalf of the customers, applicants who have been allotted the car do not loose any amount except cost of the booking form and initial payments.

To facilitate the booking process, multiple touch-points have been created all over the country. As part of the arrangement, TMF will be assisted by Tata Capital Limited, E-nxt Limited, Tata Motor dealers, Tata Securities outlets and all channel partners – DSAs & Vendors to ensure wider distribution. The booking scheme offered by TMF will enable a customer to book the Nano by paying an amount starting Rs 3,199/- only for the base model.

All in all, there's high hopes for the Nanao which Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata has said will "create a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for Indian families. Families of four -- and more -- are regularly seen balancing precariously on motorcycles weaving through the country's notoriously lethal congested traffic."


Here are some articles about the Nano launch

World's cheapest car goes on sale in India - AFP
Tata Nano Goes on Sale - Wall Street Journal
Tata Motors' special scheme for Nano - The Business Standard
Q+A: Bookings open for Tata's Nano, world's cheapest car - Reuters UK

Indian's version of Enron shakes up Bombay exchange

Satyam Computer Services, one of the largest outsourcing companies in India has just reported it has been inflating profits for years, sending its shares down 80% in Bombay trading. This is hardly good news for India's financial system which is already struggling in the wake of the Mumbai (Bombay) Terrorist Attacks and due to the generally bleak economic picture in the global economy.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex fell a record 52% in 2008. After news broke yesterday the exchange tumbled 7.3% and also sent the Rupee down. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading of shares in Satyam after news, saying it needed to review the situation.

Reuters reports, "Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of India's fourth-largest software services exporter, said in a statement that Satyam's profits had been massively inflated over recent years. He added that no other board member was aware of the financial irregularities at the Satyam, which in Sanskrit means "truth."

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