Tata has announced a reshuffle in the variants of the Nano with the removal of the standard variants and introduction of just two variants as replacement. The CX and LX varaints have been dropped and replaced by the Nano Twist XE and XT which results in a total of only two variants on offer- Nano Twist XE and Nano Twist XT. This change on the Tata Nano variants will be effective December 2015 onwards.
The current Tata Nano variants offered in the market are the standard Nano in CX and LX trim and the Nano Twist equipped with a power steering only in the XT trim. Since, the company has decided to offer a power steering as standard across the model range denoted by the ‘Twist’ suffix the new variants will be a base Nano Twist XE trim and the top-end Nano Twist XT trim.
Current Variants:
- Nano CX
- Nano LX
New Variants:
- Nano Twist XE
- Nano Twist XT
In terms of features the biggest change here is the presence of a power steering or EPAS (electric power assisted steering) across all Tata Nano variants. The base Nano Twist XE will miss out on body coloured bumpers and wheel caps. But it gets a larger steering wheel, and there’s also a new instrument cluster that has a trip meter and displays fuel economy, distance to empty, and digital clock. Other features and equipment have been carried over from the current Nano CX trim. It will available in three colours- silver, gold and white.
Tata has already stopped production of the CX and LX trims of the Nano and dealers are clearing out the stock to make way for the new variants. The company hasn’t even gotten close to selling the car in numbers they had expected at the time of conception or launch with last month’s sales standing at around 1,700 units. This can be mainly attributed to the Nano’s cheap car image and Tata is trying hard to change that and make the car more appealing especially to the youth.Its closest competitor on the market is the Alto 800 but not really in the true sense. Actual competition is probably with used cars and maybe even bikes.
