Tata Nano to be handed over today

The first of Tata Motors' Nano will be handed over to its first customer later today (17 July).

The keys of the first Nano will be handed over by the chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors, Ratan N Tata, at the OEM's dealership in Prabhadevi, Mumbai.

Following this, the first 100,000 cars will be delivered in phases to customers across the country who were selected through a lottery. The first 100,000 customers are price-protected, and will get the car for Rs100,000 (US$2,054), excluding taxes. Delivery of this first batch of cars is scheduled to be completed by the last quarter of 2010.

In all, a total of around 206,000 bookings were received for the Nano. An approximate breakdown of bookings for specific models revealed that 20% went towards the Nano Standard, 30% for the mid-range CX version, while 50% of the bookings were for the top-end Nano LX.

The OEM currently produces the Nano at its plant in Pantnagar, till its new plant in Sanand, Gujarat, comes on stream in December. The Pantnagar production line has output capacity of not more than 50,000upa. However, with start of production in Sanand, Tata Motors' capacity for build of the Nano is expected to rise to 250,000 units.