Tata Nano story: Ratan Tata shares the motivation behind launching world's cheapest car

As mentioned by Ratan Tata in his Instagram post, the purpose of Tata Nano was to provide an affordable car to the Indian families who couldn’t afford cars like Maruti 800 and Alto.

Pic: Instagram/ Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata, the former Chairman of Tata Group is one of the most celebrated Indian industrialists of our time. Ratan Tata is often credited for taking the Tata Group to new heights and making it one of the most respected business conglomerates in the country and the world. However, more than anything, Ratan Tata is known as the man who gave the world its first Rs 1 lakh car – the Tata Nano. In a recently shared viral Instagram post, Ratan Tata shared the motivation behind manufacturing the most affordable car ‘Tata Nano’.

Shared a few days ago, the post has since gone viral and received more than 1 million likes. He has also posted a photograph of him with the yellow-coloured Tata Nano with a sea of media persons surrounding him. Tata launched the Nano in India on January 10, 2008 at Rs 1 lakh (ex-showroom), making it the first mass-produced ‘lakhtakiya’ car in the world.

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A post shared by Ratan Tata (@ratantata)

“What really motivated me, and sparked a desire to produce such a vehicle, was constantly seeing Indian families on scooters, maybe the child sandwiched between the mother and father, riding to wherever they were going, often on slippery roads,” said Ratan Tata in his post.

“One of the benefits of being in the School of Architecture, it had taught me to doodle when I was free. At first, we were trying to figure out how to make two-wheelers safer, the doodles became four wheels, no windows, no doors, just a basic dune buggy. But I finally decided it should be a car. The Nano, was always meant for all our people,” he added.

As mentioned by Ratan Tata in his post, the purpose of Tata Nano was to provide an affordable car to the Indian families who couldn’t afford cars like Maruti 800 and Alto, starting at around Rs 2 lakh, back in 2008.

In 2018, Tata Motors pulled the plug off the Nano over high emission norms and dwindling sales. While there was a polarized opinion about the vehicle’s quality and performance, it did manage to put Tata Motors on the world map.