I was surprised at how few Nanos I saw on both city and rural roads on a recent trip to India. The Tata Nano was built to sell at about US$2000, as the cheapest car in the world, aimed at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ market. It is a simple yet good looking small car, which was expected to sell well, yet hasn’t. The explanation I heard is that Indians are very conscious of status, so that a car that is advertised as cheap is not attractive. A bit of a marketing blunder in the short term. In the long run, a low cost vehicle should provide a good basis for market expansion.
