Tata Motors disclosed on Thursday that they have no plans to invest and upgrade Tata Nano to meet BS-VI standards, according to a senior company official, indicating that the production and sales of Tata Nano will stop from April 2020.
Nano, the car of Ratan Tata’s dreams, developed to offer a safer and affordable alternative to families riding on two-wheelers, which received a very mild response from the Indian market customers. The small car was launched back in 2009 and was introduced at an initial price of about Rs 1 lakh. The decision was made by Tata Motors to pull the plug on the production and sales of Tata Nano – originally dubbed the ‘Rs 1 lakh car’ – because of the new safety norms that will be implemented this year. The report further claims that the company would also discontinue some of the existing products owing to the BS-VI emission norms.
Mayank Pareek, President of Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said to the press, “Nano is produced at our Sanad plant in Gujarat, and as in January new safety norms came, in April some more new norms are about to be introduced and in October new safety norms will be implemented and BS-VI is going to happen from April 1, 2020. Owing to that, not all products may be able to meet the BS-VI norms and we may not be willing to invest in upgrading all the products, and Nano is one of them.”
Commenting on the BS-VI vehicles, Mayank Pareek stated that it was a big challenge for all automobile manufacturers as the Supreme Court’s guidelines do not allow car registrations other than BS-VI vehicles post-April 1, 2020. “Basically, today Tata Motors has 5 or 6 products in the passenger vehicle segment that will be refurbished and modified. For the automobile Industry, it is the biggest challenge. BS-IV stock should go down to zero by April 1, 2020,” he said.
Even though the deadline is for October 1, 2019, for all cars to meet the updated crash test norms, the Tata Nano has another hurdle to deal with prior to the crash test. From April 1, 2019, all cars, made in India, need to have an anti-lock braking system (ABS), which the Nano does not – and will not – get. With an almost non-existent demand, it makes little sense for Tata Motors to invest any finances in upgrading the Nano and giving it ABS at the point where it seems to be coming to its end. Hence, the necessitation of ABS will be the end of Tata Nano, and the sales, as well as the manufacturing of the car, will be discontinued in April 2019.
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