Finally a New (hopefully fixed) TATA Nano

And good sense has prevailed...

We believe that it is mighty important that the Tata Nano succeeds in the Indian market. Many families do travel (with kids perched precariously) on 2-wheelers. Even if few of these families shift to the Nano, it could save many from potential injuries/harm. That said, not at the cost of adding a more serious risk to their lives.

Someone at Tata Motors has finally realised that the only way to jump-start Nano sales was to shelve the current Nano and come up with a "new Nano".

2012 TATA Nano

It sure took them a lot of time to realise that more than two dozen Nanos bursting into flames will not be considered as "independent, unrelated  incidents" by potential buyers. Irrespective of how loudly Tata Motors claims it to be so. Buyers were not even moved by claims that the fire incidents were a propaganda against the company. Sorry Tata, we were not ready to bet our lives on that claim of yours. Heck, if this were the US, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) would have ordered the cars off the road within the first couple of incidents.

It was quite obvious, the only way get the fire monkey off Nano's back was to bring in a "new and improved" one and hope that those do not burst into flames. One sincerely hopes that Tata Motors' R&D department has identified the root cause of the fires and taken care of it.

Other than the potential fire fix, the new 2012 Nano is claimed to be more powerful (38PS vs. 35PS earlier) and fuel-efficient (25.4 kmpl vs. 23.6 kmpl, as per ARAI tests) than the earlier one. Also, features that were earlier offered in the mid and high end model would now make it to the base model.

We are eagerly looking forward to the 2012 Auto Expo and hope that we get to see the diesel Nano too. A car giving more than 30kmpl mileage, wouldn't that be something!!