Agence France Presse
India's launch of the world's cheapest car, the Nano, was expected to create a vast new market segment in the nation of 1.2 billion people, but reality has fallen short of expectations.
"We are at the gates – offering a new form of transportation to the people of India," said a proud Tata chairman Ratan Tata at the unveiling three years ago of the globally hyped vehicle.
Tata, who spearheaded the Nano's development as a way to get India's masses off two wheels and onto four, was likened by some to Henry Ford, who revolutionized the US car market with the Model T.
But the Nano's fortunes have gone into a tailspin with last month's sales of the snub-nosed "people's car" plunging 85 percent from a year earlier to an all-time low of 509 units, despite a rapidly expanding vehicle market.
While the five-seater Nano, which hit the roads with a price tag of 100,000 rupees ($2,500), has battled troubles such as fires in some of its cars and production delays, other small cars have boasted impressive sales figures.
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