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It doesn’t even go on sale until October but the Tata Nano, soon to be the cheapest new car in the world, is already making a big impact in its native India.
Since it was announced less than a month ago, the Nano has almost single-handedly destroyed the value of budget secondhand cars in India. Prices for a secondhand Maruti 800, currently the cheapest and most popular car in India, have dropped by 30 per cent in just two months.
Nanomania also appears to be putting the nail into sales of new Maruti 800s, with new registrations down 20 per cent in January, a month that normally sees a rise in sales.
Darius Lam of Autocar Professional in India said: “People are asking themselves – and us - why they should pay, say, 250,000 rupees for a new Maruti Alto, when they can wait and get a brand new Nano for less in a few months’ time, a car that is actually bigger”.
Some ten million users have already visited Tata's microsite for the Nano - a figure that Tata claims is a record, and proves that the car is sure to be a hit when it goes on sale later this year.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance looks like it too may cash in on the Indian cheap car boom too, as it looks to launch a £1,599 car with India's Bajaj Auto.
Mark Rainford
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