Despite the political opposition that has resulted in suspension of work at Singur, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, on Thursday said that the company was doing everything possible to launch the Rs 1 lakh car Nano as per schedule. “We’ll do everything possible to come close to the launch date,” he said while speaking at the 48th Siam Annual Convention, without divulging further details.
Later in the day, Ratan Tata along with other Siam delegates including Shohei Kimura of Nissan, Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, Brij Mohan Lal of Hero Honda and Shen Yang from China met the prime minister. “Siam had invited the PM for the annual convention but since he could not make it to the event, the Siam delegates had gone to see him,” said a Siam official, declining to divulge if anything related to the Singur land issue was discussed or not.
Though Tata refused to comment on whether the company will stick to the Rs 1-lakh price tag for the Nano considering that there has been a spurt in commodity prices and fuel prices, he said that the industry was under pressure due to rising input costs and high fuel prices.
Elaborating on the future of small cars in India and across the globe, he said that the small car was here to stay. “I feel reinforced that there will be growing requirement of low-cost small cars. The need and demand for low-cost cars in emerging economies, including India, will grow because such cars reach out to the people who are looking out for their first car,” he said adding that there would be greater demand for small cars in developed economies as well but these would be the mid- and high-cost small cars.
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