Tata Nano Wins Buyers Thanks to 4-Year Warranty

December was a much better month for the world's most affordable passenger car, mostly thanks to the 4-year warranty the Indian parent company started offering for each new purchase. Tata's Nano reached 5,784 deliveries in December, way beyond the 509 units sold in November and 60 percent more than the same month of the year before. Still, sales of the model are below the peak registered by Tata Motors in July 2010, when it delivered approximately 9,000 units.

Tata Motors announced last month that each Nano will be offered with a 4-year or 60,000 km warranty, whichever comes first, but customers will also have the option to sign a "maintenance contract" at only Rs. 99 per month, as the company said in a statement.

"Customer satisfaction studies with current Tata Nano owners indicate that over 80% are satisfied or very satisfied with the car, because of it being small yet spacious, its performance, maneuverability, durability, mileage and safety. Some owners have taken their Tata Nanos on country-wide trips or to altitudes like Khardungla, the world’s highest motorable road," the Indian manufacturer explained when announcing that the Nano is now available through the company's entire 874 dealership network in the home country.

And Tata Motors even plans to push things further, with production likely to be boosted to 15,000 units per month since March this year, while figures are scheduled to double later this year. Of course, dealers have already raised concerns on this fact, hinting that revenues might be affected by the increase in production.

"In fact, even if Tata Motors starts making 15,000 Nanos a month from March, it'll be half of the originally planned volume," an executive was quoted as saying in mid-December. "At current volumes, it will be very difficult for us to make money on the project," another part supplier added.