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RIP Tata Nano, the World's Cheapest Car (cnet.com)
From a report: Well, you guys, pour one out for the Tata Nano. The world's cheapest car is all but dead. According to Bloomberg, Tata Motors built one single Nano in June 2018. During the same month in 2017, Tata produced 275. As a final nail in the coffin, Tata told Bloomberg the car "cannot continue beyond 2019." The Tata Nano entered the Indian market in 2008 priced from just 100,000 rupees, or about $1,500. The price increased over time, and according to Tata Motors' website, an entry-level Nano starts at 236,447 rupees today, or $3,435 based on current exchange rates. Right from the get-go, the Nano was plagued with production issues, not to mention poor safety and dismal crash test results. The cars were also known to catch fire, which, uh, isn't good.
Tata IS big industry.
They own Jaguar, Land Rover, they run an airline, have retail stores, make trains.
They have over 100 subsidiary companies.
Their revenue last year was over $100 billion USD.
That's more revenue than Boeing, about a third less than Ford or GM
Tata Motor was the #2 car company in India after Maruti Suzuki before they introduced the Nano. Nano was their CEO Ratan Tata's pet project. Ratan Tata assumed the car would sell on it's own without much marketing & advertising expenditure. But the car didn't. People preferred to buy a 2nd hand car which cost the same as a new Nano but was a much better car. Ergo, the Nano was a flop. But because it was the CEO's pet project, the company wouldn't let it go, they spent a lot of money & effort over years to make sure the car doesn't die. Tata Motors went to losses because of the time, effort & money they spent on the car. They lost their position in the market. It was only after Ratan Tata resigned & a new CEO took over that the company was turned around again. And now they have at last stopped production of the car - something which should have been done 5-6 years back.