The body structure of the new Rs 1 lakh Tata Nano car will be built by NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul-owned Caparo Group.

Selected inner structural panels will be pressed and assembled by Caparo at a new facility in Singur, adjacent to the Tata Nano manufacturing plant in West Bengal.

Caparo, the manufacturer of the world's highest performance road-capable hyper car, the Caparo T1, will supply 60 per cent of these assemblies, with the rest being manufactured in-house by Tata.

To meet Tata's ambitious cost targets, Caparo has installed a new semi-automated production line with zero fault forward quality control systems.

"The body technology is relatively conventional, but the manufacturing technology is the result of very sophisticated analysis to ensure high-quality, low-cost production," Caparo Group CEO Angad Paul said on Friday.

"We completed this extremely quickly to meet our customer's deadline, with start of production just six months after the contract was confirmed." The Tata Nano was launched at the India Auto Expo in Delhi last month. 

Tata chose Caparo for this substantial contract because of the firm's success with a similar contract to Maruti [Get Quote] Suzuki.
"We have been delivering to plants in India at zero ppm for three years," said Caparo India country head Sunil Pahilajani. "Quality at this level is a tremendous complement to our people," he said.

Caparo also supplies Indian plants for Ashok Leyland [Get Quote], Eicher Motors [Get Quote], JCB, John Deere and Hero Honda, as well as most manufacturers of two and three-wheeled vehicles.

Caparo Vehicle Products specialises in precision-formed and light-weight metal products, including stampings, forgings, machinings, aluminium castings and tubing as well as a wide range of complementary products and services such as carbon composites, fasteners and module build. Caparo AP Braking supplies a wide range of base braking components and systems.

The Tata Nano is a four-door, five-seat car that will cost Rs 1 lakh (1,300 pounds) when it enters showrooms in India later this year. The low cost, around half that of the next cheapest vehicle, gives the Nano the potential to bring motoring to a mass market in a country of 1.1 billion people.

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