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Tata Nano Chronicles: 500,000 and Counting

If there were amongst you some who doubted that the single use (kidding...) Tata Nano will be a smashing hit, here is proof that the cheapest car in the world will top record after record in its home market, at least. To refresh your memory, two weeks ago we reported the Nano took 51,000 orders in only five days. Two weeks later, that number increased by almost 1,000 percent, reaching the fabulous 500,000 application forms received since its release.

This translates into money earned for the company which came up with the lower than low-cost vehicle idea. From the selling of applications (300 rupees of $6 a piece) and the down-payments made for the Nano, Tata Motors raised a total of $3 million, autoblog.com reported.

And this is not all. The Indian car maker expects that by the end of the registration period (April 25, that's four days from now, so get a move on it!) to receive between 750,000 and 1 million orders for the nanite wonder, thus doubling the money made on the car so far. Without actually putting a single unit on the streets, that is...

What appeals to the everyday Indian consumer (besides the obvious price issue) is the State Bank of India. The financial institution managed to round up 25 percent of the total number of orders by implementing a seven year long finance program for the Nano, with 10 percent interest (that's about $50 a month).

With deliveries set to begin in July we look forward on seeing whether the initial Indian enthusiasm will keep up. Mind you that most of the orders are a kind of a "blind date" deal, most of the future Nano owners going for it without actually seeing the car.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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