The fires never seem to go away from the Tata Nano. Despite Tata Motors’ best efforts to ensure that the Nano’s rear seats have been suitably insulated from the heat of the engine, that sits just behind the Nano’s rear seats, yet another Tata Nano fire has reportedly gone up in flames at Anand, Gujarat.
Thankfully, the fire that engulfed the Tata Nano did not cause any injuries to the occupants as all of them exited to safety, before the smoke that erupted out of the rear of the Nano became a full fledged inferno, in the process gutting the entire car. While the exact reason for the Nano catching fire remains unknown at the moment, the incident sounds strikingly similar to many previous Nano fire incidents that have been reported.
The fire apparently started with the occupants of the Nano, five in number, observing smoke emanating from the rear of the car. The occupants left the car immediately and parked the car along the road side, even as the smoke became a full fledged fire to engulf the car completely.
Interestingly, many Nano fires have been reported from Gujarat than any other place so far and this is the second instance of a Nano catching fire in Anand. Coming to the incidents of the Tata Nano catching fire, Tata Motors, for its part has sent out additional fire proofing material to be installed in all Nano sold thus far, and has also ruled out a design defect in the Nano after conducting an investigation on the Nano fires.
The fire apparently started with the occupants of the Nano, five in number, observing smoke emanating from the rear of the car. The occupants left the car immediately and parked the car along the road side, even as the smoke became a full fledged fire to engulf the car completely.
Interestingly, many Nano fires have been reported from Gujarat than any other place so far and this is the second instance of a Nano catching fire in Anand. Coming to the incidents of the Tata Nano catching fire, Tata Motors, for its part has sent out additional fire proofing material to be installed in all Nano sold thus far, and has also ruled out a design defect in the Nano after conducting an investigation on the Nano fires.
An file photo of a Tata Nano on fire
Despite all this, there continue to be incidents of Tata Nanos catching fire and this is the second such incident happening in under 3 months even as a Tata Nano went up in flames in Vadodara, Gujarat, as recently as June 2011. These incidents, which are happening at regular intervals are doing the Tata Nano’s image as a safe car no good.
Tata Motors is currently grappling with falling sales for the Tata Nano, and is working on a slew of marketing measures like low downpayment rates and increased penetration in India’s hinterland through Special Nano Access Points(SNAPs) to ensure that the Nano’s sales find some traction. These incidents of Nanos going up in flames at regular intervals, whatever the cause may be will only depress car buyer sentiment regarding the Tata Nano.
We hope that Tata Motors actually finds the charred cars, ensures that it investigates the causes of fire and make public the complete details of the investigation. This, perhaps is the only way to win buyer confidence back for the embattled Tata Nano, which barring these isolated incidents of fires remains a very fine car for the money it costs.
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