PTI

New Delhi: After making a wave worldwide with unveiling of the cheapest car from India, Tata Motors said on 13 May it will consider exporting the Rs1-lakh car to many promising markets, including the US.

A company spokesperson told PTI that while Tata Motors plans to sell the car overseas, the Nano will be initially marketed in India.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the US publication Conde Nast Portfolio’s report that ‘Nano’ would not be sold in the US.

“The model (Nano) won’t be sold in the US but has the potential to radically alter the market for manufacturers here. Tata-inspired followers are already revving up their engines,” Conde Nast Portfolio reported while naming Ratan Tata as one of the 73 biggest brains around the world.

The spokesman, however, said that after positioning firm in the domestic market, the company would consider exporting the car.

“The company has not yet finalized specific exports markets and timelines. The Nano will meet the prevalent norms of any country it is marketed in,” the spokesperson said without mentioning any specific country, including the US.

Tata Motors usually does not export any of its products in the first few years of launch, he added.

The list of ‘73 Biggest Brains in Business’, compiled by Conde Nast Portfolio, featured Tata for his $2,500 car Nano, along with the likes of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and chief executive of investment bank Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein.

The Tata Group, which recently snapped up British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover in a $2.3-billion deal, had unveiled the world’s cheapest car Nano during the Delhi Auto Expo this year and roll out is due in the second half of this year.

To compete with Nano, Bajaj Auto Ltd, the country’s second largest two-wheeler maker, announced a joint venture on 12 May with Renault-Nissan to produce a $2,500 car. The ‘ULC’ code-named car, which would be rolled out from a brand new plant in Chakan (Maharashtra), would be available in the Indian market by 2011.

In the recent times, the Indian auto market has caught the fancy of many global players. US car maker General Motors had said it would introduce a small car here by 2010, which would be priced below its existing vehicle in the segment ‘Spark´.

Last month, Japanese major Toyota announced a Rs1,400-crore investment in its Chennai plant to launch a ‘strategic small car’ within next 2-3 years.