We've always had a soft spot in our heart for the tiny Tata Nano, the world's least expensive car and India's equivalent of the Ford Model T that put the U.S. on wheels a century earlier.
The Nano may or may not ever be sold in the United States, though Tata says a revised version will be offered here in 2012. But as full-scale production ramps up in India, a fleet of nine Nanos has completed 26 days of long-distance driving across India, visiting 36 cities along the way.
The stunt was a combination of marketing scheme to remind Indian car buyers that they can now order Tata Nanos--for quicker delivery than during the first year of limiited production--and a way to underline the Nano's strength and reliability in the face of reports of a few fires.
Tata will also launch its first-ever television ads for the Nano, as part of an expanded marketing push now that cars are more readily available. The ads will focus on the Nano's interior space, gas mileage, safety, and even speed.
Like print ads for the car, the tagline will be: "Now You Can," referring to the Nano's role as the first affordable car for millions of Indians whose only affordable family transport until now has been a moped or small motorcycle.
In any case, while the video is hardly a lavish Bollywood production, it shows the three sets of three Nanos traveling across different regions of India--and what they encountered on their journeys. Enjoy!
