Tata Nano
A very small engine and a tall cabin were part of an ambitious affordable-car project.
Original-generation Tata Nano, photographed in India in 2011. · Biswarup Ganguly; Commons crop by Veikk0.ma · CC BY 3.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Tata unveiled the Nano in 2008 and held its commercial launch in March 2009. The first customer handover in India followed on July 17, 2009, in Mumbai. Its story is about the effort to make a new car affordable through many small design decisions. This page covers the original Indian Nano, before later power increases and the GenX redesign.
Look a little closer.
Spot the single windscreen wiper in the photograph. The car pictured was photographed in 2011; its individual model year is unconfirmed.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Three levels of equipment
The launch range had Standard, CX and LX versions. Air conditioning was included in CX and LX, while the LX added features such as front power windows. A specification from the top model should not be assumed to apply to the simplest Nano.
Source: Tata Motors · March 23, 2009 Nano launch ↗Small parts, big decisions
The original road report describes steel body construction and a centrally placed speedometer. Engineers considered cost throughout the car, including its controls and engine electronics. These choices explain the project better than a price tag alone.
Source: Car and Driver · original 2009 Nano road report ↗Where these facts come from
- Tata Motors · March 23, 2009 Nano launch
- Tata Motors · first customer delivery, July 17, 2009
- Car and Driver · original 2009 Nano road report
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.