Nano may not stay as cheap as it was - price hike : Tata Motors

The Nano, the world's cheapest car at Rs 1 lakh, may no longer be as cheap, when Tata Motors opens fresh booking later this year.

The company on Tuesday said it had promised to hold the price line for the first lot of Nano buyers, hinting at a hike for fresh buyers. It did not divulge the exact amount of the price hike.

"Deliveries to the first lot of customers should be over by December... prices of commodities and logistics have gone up, so we'll look into the pricing of the car closer to the date of fresh bookings," said Ravi Kant, vice-chairman, Tata Motors.

The Nano is currently manufactured on a makeshift basis at Tata's Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand, which gets tax sops as the region is a zero excise zone. With production at its motherplant Sanand, Gujarat, set to commence from April, tax outgo will go up.

"Pantnagar enjoys some tax sops which Sanand does not. Also, our suppliers transport components from far off areas to Uttarakhand, which increases logistic costs," said Prakash Telang, managing director (India operations), Tata Motors. Tata Motors showcased the electric version of the Nano at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday. This version will be launched in Europe in three years time.