Two-and-a-half years after its glitzy launch, a car that was meant to revolutionize personal transport in India -- and perhaps all of Asia -- remains stuck in first gear. August was the second-worst sales month ever for the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest mass-produced car and a flagship product of India's giant steel-to-software Tata Group. Tata Motors, whose plant in the western state of Gujarat has the capacity to turn out 250,000 cars a year, shipped only about 1,200 Nanos to dealers in August, compared with slightly more than 8,000 in the same month last year.
Clumsy marketing, a rash of mysterious electrical fires, and an unusual design (e.g., a welded -shut trunk, only one side-view mirror) have all dented the car's appeal. The Nano was projected to be selling 20,000 to 25,000 units a month by now, and some of the car's more enthusiastic boosters had even predicted a market in Europe and the United States. Instead, only about 129,000 Nanos ply Indian roads.
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