Nano: going places

Calcutta, March 21: The Tata Nano is likely to roll out from Bangladesh by the end of this year.

In India, the Tatas had planned to produce the car from Singur in Bengal but had to shift the project to Sanand in Gujarat following widespread local agitation.

Nitol Motors Ltd — which is the sales agent for Tata Motors in Bangladesh — has officially announced plans for assembling the Nano at its existing plant. The company has submitted a report to the Bangladesh government and is awaiting approval.

Owned by Abdul Matlub Ahmad, Nitol Motors had formed a joint venture with the Tatas in 1991 to assemble their vehicles in Bangladesh. It produces Tatas’ commercial vehicles, including trucks, for the local market at its plant in Jessore.

Tata Motors had recently said it would launch the Nano in new markets such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh by this year or early next year. In February, the company showcased the Nano in Bangladesh at the India Trade Fair.

According to Nitol Motors’ officials, “The move is aimed at keeping the price of the tiny car at its expected level as maintaining the highly anticipated low price appears hardly feasible in Bangladesh after counting the high import duty and other expenses.”

Nitol has also sought approval from the government for setting up another assembly plant on the outskirts of Dhaka. “If everything goes well, we will be able to market the Tata Nano by the end of this year,” the official said.

Nano, which costs just above a lakh in India for the base models, is expected to be priced at around Taka 6 lakh (Rs 3.94 lakh) in Bangladesh, including import taxes and a minimum profit margin. This will be the case if the car is imported from India.

If assembled in Bangladesh, the car will be available at half the price, the official said. Tata Motors did not comment on the issue.

Nitol said the company was yet to complete the feasibility study for the proposed venture. For assembling the Nano in Bangladesh, the company is looking at a potential demand of at least 1,000 units annually.

Toyota is the most sought-after car in Bangladesh. However, once Nitol launches the Nano, the car is expected to be a popular among young professionals and university students.

Tata Motors, which also plans to launch the electric version of the Nano in Europe before 2013, has started trial production of the car in Gujarat. Till Sanand is fully operational, the Tatas are making the Nano at its existing plant at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

There are rumours of Sipradi Trading — the authorised distributor of Tata Motors in Nepal — bringing five Nanos to Nepal in the next few quarters. Sipradi will accept bookings of the Nano only after getting feedback from people who test drive the car for six months.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors recently said its margins were under pressure because of the 2 per cent excise duty hike announced in the budget.