Rare Footage Of Ratan Tata Delivering India’s First 3 Nanos (Video)

The Tata Nano was the brainchild of the visionary Emeritus of Tata Sons, the late Ratan Tata. He wanted to make a four-wheeler that all Indian families could afford. Recently, a video from the day of this iconic car’s first deliveries commenced has been shared online. In this video, the legend Ratan Tata himself can be seen delivering three of the country’s first Tata Nanos to their respective owners.

Ratan Tata delivered the first three Tata Nanos of India.

This video comes courtesy of Autoscoops and was shared 15 years ago on the platform. It starts off with Ratan Tata and top executives of Tata Motors and Tata Group coming in front of the three Tata Nano cars. They were all surrounded by media personnel who were clicking pictures and making videos of these deliveries.

Following this, the host announces that they are delivering the first 1,00,000 Nanos to the owners selected from the 3,06,703 applicants who had reserved this car. After this, he announces that the first car is being delivered to Mr. Ashok Vichare and his family.

The video then shows Ratan Tata handing over the key and a memento to the owner of this car. Soon after, the mother, wife, and children of Mr. Ashok Vichare join for the picture with Ratan Tata and other officials. Next up, the host announces the delivery of the second Tata Nano, finished in yellow.

For this, the owner comes in front of the same silver car. However, it can be noted that Ratan Tata asks him which car was being delivered to him. He then points to the yellow Nano, and after this, Mr. Tata and the buyer both stand in front of his car, and he then hands over the key to the gentleman.

Ratan Tata’s vision behind Tata Nano

Mr. Ratan Tata, being the humble and caring gentleman, once saw a family of four people riding on a scooter on a rainy day. He saw this struggle from his car, and on that day, he decided that he wanted to solve this problem. So, in order to achieve this dream, he went to Tata Motors to create an affordable car for the masses.

His aim was to create a vehicle that would cost Rs 1 lakh so that every middle-class family could afford a car. Following this, the long and tedious process of designing such a car began, and eventually, after many hurdles, it was launched on January 10, 2008. The Nano, in the beginning, received a warm welcome.

However, one crucial marketing mistake led to the decline in sales of this hatchback. That mistake was, instead of marketing it as the most affordable vehicle, it was labeled as the “cheapest” car in India. This led many Indian buyers to view it as an inferior quality product.

This marketing blunder, along with many reports of this rear-engined vehicle being involved in fires, caused Indian buyers to avoid purchasing the Nano. Ultimately, all of this resulted in the decline in sales of the Nano. Today, many people look back at the Nano as a failed product from Tata Motors. However, we can appreciate the thought that went behind the creation of this unique hatchback.

Will Tata Nano ever come back?

Most likely, with the increasing demand for safer vehicles, making a car this affordable will not be possible by any automaker, let alone Tata Motors. So, the most logical answer to the question is that, no, Tata Nano will never be making a comeback to India.