Small car, big dreams: Nano to roll out today

New Delhi/Mumbai: It’s the small car that's driving big dreams for millions of Indians who are waiting to ride their own set of four wheels.

Tata Nano - the car that caught the world's imagination as the cheapest ever – will finally be rolled out commercially on Monday in Mumbai in a mega event organised by Tata Motors.

The Tata group, India's largest industrial house, hit the global headlines last year, both after unveiling the Nano at the Auto Show in New Delhi and then becoming the centrepiece of a political controversy over the location of its plant at Singur in West Bengal.

The $62.5 billion group finally had to shift its factory to Sanand in Gujarat after cascading politically-motivated protests over land acquisition from farmers raised questions over the company's ability to stick to its launch deadline, informally set for October 2008.

Tata Motors says it may want to start advance bookings for the 624-cc car from the second week of April. The jellybean car has a snub nose, a sloping roof and just about room for five to squeeze in.

Touted as the next revolution in automobiles after the legendary Model T, The Nano will be available in three variants - standard, deluxe and luxury. The base model will have no air-conditioning.

Where you can book your Nano

• At any authorised Tata motors dealer
• At a Croma store
• At a Westside outlet
• Bookings can also be made online

How to book a Nano

• Fill out the application form available for Rs. 300
• With it, include a 70 to 80 per cent deposit of the Nano's price
• Payment can be made through cheque/demand draft
• Deposit the form from where you bought it, or at any SBI branch

Nano: All you need to know about it

Wiper

Being a small car, the Nano has just one wiper.

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Small wheels and mounting

It has smaller tyres, which mean it uses less rubber, so this makes the wheels lighter than other cars. They were mounted with only three lugs, making it cheaper too.

Non-opening hatch

Apart from that, there's also the feature of a non-opening hatch .. which means no beading, hinges and locks.

Light body

Nano uses a light gauge metal body and the production process will aim for minimum wastage.

Engine format/placement

Single mirror: Tata brought the Engine Control Unit down to an unprecedented price. The sensors used by the ECU to govern the engine are down to half the usual number.

(Inputs from CNN-IBN and agencies)