Nano car bursts into flames

High-end taxi service manager says she has gotten rid of all the Tata models in her fleet because they need too much repair work

MUMBAI: Satish Sawant was proudly driving his first car home from the showroom: A brand-new silver Tata Nano, draped with a celebratory garland of marigolds. Then there was smoke.

And then there was fire. Minutes after the software engineer’s wife and five-year-old son clambered out of the back seat, smoke from the engine, located in the Nano’s rear, erupted into flames that engulfed the tiny car.

His ordeal showed just the latest problem with the low-cost Nano raising fresh questions about safety and quality as top Indian carmaker Tata Motors sets its sights on global expansion and aims to ramp up production of the Nano with a new factory next month.

“My wife now doesn’t want to buy any car,” Sawant said by phone from his home in northern Mumbai on Thursday.

“She doesn’t even want to go for a Mercedes.” Starting around $2,500, the Nano has been heralded as the world’s cheapest car.

Tata Motors spokesman Debasis Ray said the company is investigating the incident but believes it to be a one-off problem rather than the result of faulty design or manufacture.

“We believe it was a one-off stray incident,” he said. “It did catch fire.

We’re trying to figure out what may have caused it.” Tata has offered Sawant a replacement Nano or a refund.

This is not the first time there have been customer complaints about the Nano. Last fall, three customers in India complained that their Nanos started smoking.

Tata Motors attributed that to a faulty electrical switch and said it had changed suppliers and done additional tests to rule out a recall or redesign.

Ray said on Thursday that the incidents are not related.

The switch problem, he said, “has been comprehensively addressed.” “Safety has never been an issue with Tata cars,” he added.

“They are one of the safest cars on Indian roads.” But some say the Nano’s smoke and fire problems are symptomatic of pervasive quality control issues at India’s number three carmaker.

“As of today, is Tata good enough to take on the world? I would say no,” said Deepesh Rathore, an auto analyst at IHS Global Insight in New Delhi. “On quality standards, Tata barely makes the cut.

“There are fewer than 30,000 Nanos on the road today.

"Uruvashi Shah, manager of Ashapura Travel World, which runs a high-end taxi service, said she has gotten rid of all the Tata models in her fleet because they needed too much repair work. She prefers Toyota.