With the festive season at its peak and sales of Nano as low as 3,065 in the last month, dealers of Tata Motors are feeling the pressure. They have launched an aggressive exchange offer asking owners of two-wheeler to exchange their vehicle for a Nano this festive season.
Speaking with FE, a dealer of the company in Mumbai said, ?We are advertising a two-wheeler exchange offer for the Nano and have seen a pick up in demand. The demand is low and we believe this offer may attract customers.? Interestingly, while dealers are calling for two-wheeler exchange, the maximum footfalls for such offers are seeng from car owners who are willing to exchange their cars for a Nano. These are typically Maruti 800 and Alto, and Hyundai Santro owners. The dealers have appointed brokers to deal with the car exchange while Tata Motors Finance and State Bank of India (SBI) are supporting with finance. Nearly 25% of Tata Motors? total sales is done by TMFL. Of late, the Nano has seen a dip in demand despite the mother plant in Sanand, Gujarat, becoming operational. The limited availability of the car through open sale is seen as a major reason for fall in demand. Price hikes are taking away buyers who may opt for cars of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India.
Currently, fresh sales of the Nano are open in the states including Kerala (since August 2010), Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal (since October 2010). The company has increased prices by a further Rs 9,000 (ex-showroom) on the car for both new buy and retainee buyers. The launch price of the Nano was Rs 1.34 lakh for the standard BSIII and Rs 1.85 lakh for the LX BS III, ex-showroom Mumbai.