Tata Motors says it has 500,000 Nano application forms

The Nano is off to a smashing start, with Tata reportedly claiming it has already received 500,000 application forms since the car went on sale April 9. Tata Motors sent out order forms to 30,000 locations throughout India, and charged 300 rupees ($6.00 in US funds) to anyone that filled out the form. Tata Motors has generated the equivalent of $3 million so far, and interested parties have until April 25 to order their own Nano. The company is expecting between 750,000 and one million orders by the deadline, giving the Indian automaker up to $6 million in income without making a single vehicle. The State Bank of India, which has about 25% of the total orders to date, will finance the Nano for up to seven years at interest rate of 10%.

One million pre-order applications is a mighty impressive sum for the $2,500 micro car, and it's a number that Tata Motors doesn't even intend to hit in the Nano's initial batch. Tata will fill 100,000 orders in the first tranche, and it intends to hold a raffle to see which of the orders will get fulfilled. Tata Motors will begin delivering the Nano this July.   

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