Tata Motors plant at Sanand has halted production according to sources close to the company. The production halt is claimed to extend over a period of three-to-four weeks, starting mid-June 2014. The reason behind the halt in production is cited as routine maintenance. Sources close to the company however claim that the shutdown has been initiated for retooling the facility. This hints at an effort on the part of the company to add new features and attributes to the small car to make it smarter and more attractive to the buyers. Industry sources claim that Tata Motors has been testing new, more valuable variants of the Nano, and the maintenance shutdown could prove to be an opportunity for the automakers to make the necessary changes to the facility to include the newer, more valuable variants of the car. The new, more valuable variants are claimed to be the one with a openable hatch; a CNG version of Twist, one with a automated manual transmission (AMT), and one with a more powerful engine. To ensure the 624cc two-cylinder engine develops more power, Tata engineers are said to have attached a supercharger. A mild hybrid is also said to be on the cards. Likely to be termed as e-rev, the hybrid version of the Nano will promise an extended drive range, superior efficiency and a pepier drive. With sales averaging 2,000 to 4,000 units for the past few months, Tata Motors has been issuing regular updates on the car from the time it was introduced in 2009. The latest was the addition of a smart electric power steering, addition of a anti-roll bar at front, a trip computer and a Bluetooth enabled music system.
Leave a Reply