Tata Motors on Monday commercially launched its people's car, Nano, promising to stick to the Rs 100,000 price tag for the base model.

"From today onwards, the product will be available in the showrooms. . . There will be three versions - the base version, which is the one we promised to the people of India and two upper tier versions. . . ," Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told a news conference on Monday in Mumbai.

The higher-end versions would have airconditioning, power brakes and power windows, among others. "We hope this day we will usher in a new form of transport," Tata said, adding that the endeavour was never to build the cheapest car but to provide an affordable form of transportation.

He, however, hastened to add that "we made a promise and that we've kept the promise."

The bookings will commence on April 9 and go on till April 25, while the deliveries are expected by early-July. The company had earlier promised to sell the car for Rs 100,000 for the base model.

Tata Motors [Get Quote] passenger car business president Rajiv Dubey said one-lakh applications would be accepted and the first lot of cars allotted through a lottery.

Customers would be able to book it with an upfront payment of Rs 2,999 between April 9 and 25. Those who are not allotted vehicles would be paid interest at the rate of 8.5 per cent for the first year and 8.75 per cent for the second year.

The snub-nosed car, which has its 623-cc engine in the rear (a first), can carry four passengers and has a fuel economy of 23.6 km per litre. The project was conceived in 2003 and has cost the company over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).

The company would use its Pantnagar facility, which has an annual capacity of 50,000 units, to roll-out the Nano until in Sanand unit in Gujarat goes on stream.

Sanand facility would have a capacity of 2.5 lakh (250,000) units annually and scaleable up to 5 lakh (500,000) units.

The Tata Nano is BS-III compliant and comes with an all-new 2-cylinder aluminium MPFI 624 cc petrol engine mated to a four-speed gear box and will be available in three variants. The cars will be on display across the country at Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships and other select authorised outlets from April 1.

"The Nano represents the spirit of breaking conventional barriers. From the drawing board to its commercial launch, the concept, development and productionisation of the car has overcome several challenges. It is to the credit of the team at Tata Motors that a car once thought impossible by the world is now a reality. I hope it will provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families who till now have not been able to own a car. We are delighted in presenting the Tata Nano to India and the world," said Tata.

The Tata Nano is currently being manufactured at the company's Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand in limited numbers. The new dedicated plant, at Sanand in Gujarat, will be ready in 2010 with an annualised capacity of 350,000 cars.

The Tata Nano offers an incredibly spacious passenger compartment which can comfortably seat four adults. With a length of just 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, the Tata Nano has the smallest exterior footprint for a car in India but is 21 per cent more spacious than the smallest car available today. A high seating position makes ingress and egress easy. Its small size coupled with a turning radius of just 4 metres, makes it extremely manoeuvrable in the smallest of parking slots.

The 3 variants

The three trim levels and their key features available at launch are:

Tata Nano Standard (BSII and BSIII): The standard version, in three colour options, single-tone seats, and fold-down rear seat;

Tata Nano CX (BSII and BSIII): In five colour options, with heating and air-conditioning (HVAC), two-tone seats, parcel shelf, booster-assisted brakes, fold-down rear seat with nap rest;

Tata Nano LX (BSIII): With the features of CX plus complete fabric seats, central locking,  front power windows, body coloured exteriors in three premium colours, fog lamps, electronic trip meter, cup holder in front console, mobile charger point, and rear spoiler. Many of these features are not available on current entry-level small cars in the country.

Performance & specifications

Performance: The 2-cylinder engine -- delivering 35 PS @ 5250 rpm and a torque of 48 Nm @ 3000 rpm -- enables the car to have a top speed of 105 kmph and negotiate inclines with a gradeability of 30 per cent.

Fuel efficiency: 23.6 km/litre, certified by the Automotive Research Association of India under mandated test conditions, which is the highest for any petrol car in India.

Emission: The high fuel efficiency, coupled with a low kerb weight of 600 kg, ensures that the Tata Nano -- at 101 gm / km -- has the lowest CO2 emission amongst cars in India. The Tata Nano is BS-III compliant and is BS-IV ready. It is also available in BS-II norms.

Safety: The Tata Nano's safety performance exceeds current regulatory requirements � it passes the roll-over test and offset impact, which are not regulated in India. It has an all sheet-metal body, reinforced passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, besides mandatory seat belts and complies fully with existing Indian safety standards. Tubeless tyres � among which the rear ones are wider endowing extra stability � enhance safety.

Warranty: 18 months or 24,000 km, whichever is earlier.

The booking process

In view of the expected significant demand and limited production capacity initially until the Sanand plant is fully ramped up to capacity, the Tata Nano will be available through a booking mode.

Tata Motors has entered into an exclusive agreement with the State Bank of India [Get Quote] to manage the booking process.

The sale of application forms and acceptance of booking will start from April 9 till the end of day April 25.

The application forms will be available at a price of Rs. 300, with a range of offers from select associate Tata Group companies. The application forms will be available at over 30,000 locations in about 1,000 cities through Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships, State Bank of India and its branches, its subsidiaries and associates, other preferred financiers, and outlets of Westside, Croma, 'World of Titan' and Tata Indicom exclusive stores.

After collecting the forms, customers have two options. They can either pay the entire booking amount themselves or seek financing of the booking amount.

For those who seek financing, Tata Motors has entered into agreements with 15 preferred banks/NBFCs for the Tata Nano booking loan product. The booking product offered by these banks will enable a Tata Nano to be booked by paying an amount starting Rs 2,999 only. Their chosen financier will directly submit their application forms to the State Bank of India on their behalf.

Those, who choose to themselves pay their entire booking amount, can submit their application forms  to State Bank of India through 1,350 notified branches in 850 cites, and also at Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships, Westside and Croma outlets. Option to submit bookings online is available at www.tatanano.com.

Within 60 days of the closure of bookings, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerised random selection procedure. These 100,000 allotments will be price protected for the launch prices till delivery of the cars but the booking amounts will not bear any interest for the customers. Deliveries will commence from July 2009.

Applicants have the option to retain their booking deposit, even if they do not get allotment in the first phase. Those who choose this option will be eligible for interest on their deposit, effective from the date of announcement of allotment of the second phase, at a rate of 8.5% for retention period between one year to two year and 8.75% for a retention period of more than 2 years. Allotment of retainees will be simultaneously communicated, along with the allotment of the first 100,000 cars.