Sandeep Ashar

If you believe Tata’s Nano is big news only in Mumbai, think big.

The people’s car is creating waves in Stuttgart, headquarters of auto majors Mercedes and Porsche. Mediapersons from the town, also known as the home of royal cars, say the Nano is their town’s biggest buzz.

A media delegation from Stuttgart, Mumbai’s sister city, arrived on a six-day visit to Mumbai on Friday along with 26 other representatives from politics, business, education, medicine and music. Stuttgart’s mayor Wolfgang Schuster, who is leading the delegates, said, “The objective of the visit is to strengthen exchange and cooperation in the areas of culture, politics, business, education and health.”

Talking to DNA, Josef Schunder, a journalist with Stuttgarter Nachrichten, said, “The car had captured not just the imagination of the people and the media but the big car companies in Germany.”

Another journalist said one of their interest areas during the visit would be to gauge the impact Nano will have on the Indian auto market.

Both conceded that German car companies were concerned about a dip in sales if the Nano gained popularity among middle-class Indians.

Schunder said it would also be interesting to see how India’s beefed up its infrastructure if most people were to own cars.Well, Nano is not the only thing that has overwhelmed Germans.Mayor Schuster said Bollywood flicks were a hit with Stuttgartians.

The visit to the city, kickstarted with the unveiling of a three-day Stuttgart wine festival, where 150 varieties of the famous German wine are being offered at NCPA. As a part of the visit, a Stuttgart orchestra organised a concert at NCPA on Friday. It will also organise a joint concert with a city-based orchestra, the Symphony of India, on February 3.

Source : DNA