Bookings for Nano begin

Bookings for Tata Motors' much-waited small car 'Nano' started across the country on Thursday and will continue till April 25.

"Bookings (for the Nano) began today (Thursday) morning and we hope the response will be encouraging," a Tata Motors spokesperson said.

The sale of application forms for the Nano started on April 1 and the response has been 'very encouraging', the company said in a statement.

The Tata Nano Web site has recorded over 5 crore (50 million) hits, including over 2 crore (20 million) hits in the fortnight since the Nano's launch on March 23, the statement said.

The application forms were sold through over 30,000 locations in about 1,000 cities pan-India through Tata Motors' passenger-car dealerships, State Bank of India branches as also through those of its subsidiaries and associates and other preferred financiers.

The forms were also sold through Tata group companies such as Westside, Croma, World of Titan and Tata Indicom.

Within 60 days of closure of bookings on April 25, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerised random selection procedure.

The 100,000 allotments would be price-protected for the launch prices till delivery of the cars, but the booking amount would not bear any interest for the customers.

Deliveries will commence from July 2009, Tata Motors said.

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 would 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 per cent for the retention period between one year and two years and 8.75 per cent for a period of more than two years, the company statement added.