The Tata Nano is a hot property in Mumbai, literally
LATEST UPDATE – Tata Motors have ordered a probe into this case. Read more about it here.
After the initial flurry of Nanos emitting smoke from the steering column (read about the funny case) we assumed things were fine in camp Tata.
But not for long.
Insurance agent Satish Sawant took delivery of his Tata Nano in Prabhadevi, Mumbai. Since he cannot drive, the company organized a chauffeur to deliver the car home.
On his way back, a motorcyclist on the Eastern Express Highway while overtaking signaled something was wrong to the rear of his car. Sawant turned and noticed fire. He and the driver immediately jumped out of the car to safety.
Sawant had spent Rs 2.4 lakh on the silver Nano (MH03 AW 913). We assume this is the top-end Nano with Air-conditioning and power windows.
Satish Sawant -
I have no idea what happened. A motorcycle rider overtook me and told me that the vehicle was on fire. The engine was behind me and I did not realise that the car was on fire.
A fire tender arrived to the scene shortly thereafter and doused the flame. The Navghar police (Mulund E) have registered a case yesterday evening.
How reliable is the Nano is what we ask. The Nano is no doubt an engineering marvel, but wearing a price tag of the world’s cheapest car doesn’t mean it can compromise on passenger safety, which one takes for granted when buying a car. Should the Nano come with fire extinguishers as factory fitment? I mean, a brand new car that’s done almost no kilometers can’t burst into flames while moving, can it?
The biggest disadvantage of placing the engine at the rear is lack of proper cooling. Could this incident have happened due to the inefficient design of the cooling system? There is no reaction from Tata Motors. We expect something from them very soon.
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I purchased Tata Nano on 4th July 2011 from Sanghi Brothers Indore. After 1100Kms
i was getting average of 12Kms with AC usage. Whereas the company claims that Tata Nano give
24.5kms/ltr.
As per sanghi bros Indore it will be ok after my engine runs above 5000
kms. At present my Nano kms reading is 4556kms, still the average is 15kms/ltr. I am finding it very expensive. DOES TATA OR SANGHI MEAN TO SAY THAT WHEN IT WILL CLICK EXACTLY AT 5000KMS I WILL GET THE AVERAGE OF 24.5KMS/LTR.
After reading this post i don’t think so now anyone will continue to buying this car. Tata has need to improve engine capacity and they need to concentrate better improvement.
This is ok, but current situation the people need electric car instead of this.
Tata will try same nano with electric, price around INR 1.5 Lakhs will be good.
Tata contribution to India again more environment………..
I am an owner of a Tata Nano. I ve used the car for 6500 kms until now. It has been a great experience driving with utmost comfort. It gives a mileage of 20 kms/l with AC. Without AC – goes upto 24kms/l within city (Chennai). I ve taken my family (Wife and parents) to Vellore which is 150kms from Chennai and returned back to Chennai within a day. We ve had no problem whatsoever. Likewise, there are so many nano cars running in Chennai.
I do not know why would you all believe one or two incidents that happened. Why cant those incidents be planned ones? to destroy somebody’s business which in India happens frequently. Can anyone prove to me that fire incident was not a planned one? Why didn’t our investigative journalists did not do any investigation in this matter when they are interested in all rape cases. In this competitive world, there is a high possibility because everyone certainly knows that they will get very high compensation. People do anything for money in this country that we all know.
If you all recollect, there have been allegations when Tata indica and Tata sumo came out. But see the situation now. In Chennai, at a peak hour, for every 10 cars, 4 to 5 cars are Tata indica.
If at all this fire incident is true, there are other incidents where world’s costliest cars gone on fire. Recently, a BMW was on fire during a test drive. Four people died. Click the following link and read the article. http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/bmw_catches_fire_in_ahmedabad_four_die.php
Just because this BMW went on fire, would you all say that the company is bad? So, if the incident is true, there could not have been something technically wrong only with those 2 nano cars (which I dont believe).
Tata Nano is far far better than Maruti 800. Because it has got 21 percent more space than Maruti800. More mileage than maruti800 (24kms/l), more pick up than maruti800 (must be because of rear engine), more stability than maruti800. I am authorised to compare this way because I ve used maruti800 for years.
Tata nano is not just a car. It is an excellent innovative vehicle. Suitable for every family throughout the world.
Its second news about TATA Nano has burn. Now tata new to do something better. If Tata Motors continues with this policy while its cars keep burning, customers may not turn up at the second round of bookings.
[...] will be the 6th one to be involved in such an incident. Previous events happened in Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi and [...]
Auto magazines are well greased to give adverse comments on Tatas specially by Suzuki of Japan. Believe me so many CRV’s, accords had engine bursting into flames, Toyota prius got almost banned in US in current year .Yet no Indian magazenes caarried any investigations for the reasons well known to every one well organised cocktail party at coroporate levels.
Tata declared that nano is the cheapest car.But due to this there are some restriction over the security and facility provided with it. And one can not neglect it.
I feel TATA should investigate such situations as this is question of consumers safety. Anything can happen to a vehicle but if there are glitches in the car itself then it will affect the quality and trust among the consumers. Such situations can happen and companies are willing to rectify such problems.
[...] issue of the Satish Sawant’s flaming Tata Nano created a stir and to erase memories of the burning Nano from the minds of the public, 9 Nanos took off to all corners of the country to prove the [...]
[...] If you think that cars like the Tata Nano were to reduce global warming, think again, as a model burst into flames while on the move. The rear portion of the car that houses the engine was all up in flames, luckily its driver Satish Sawant from Mumbai, India, managed to get out of the car. Satish was made aware of the burning rear portion by a motorcyclist as he himself has no clue about the fire. Small cars with an engine at the rear are more prone to such problems and reference can be made to the original Abarth 500 where the owners had to ensure that their trunk was always propped open to avoid overheating. [Image via IndianAutosBlog] [...]
[...] The Tata Nano is a perfect car for developing countries and Tata would look at many similar export markets which need low cost cars and where there are no stringent safety regulations. [...]
[...] owner of the Tata Nano which caught fire just after few hours of taking delivery, Satish Sawant has issued a legal notice to Tata Motors [...]
[...] This is not another case of a small hatchback catching fire! This is just a ‘fiery’ paint job on the Chevrolet Beat created by a Portuguese school [...]
[...] chances in India are slim, even if its prospects are exciting (would be easy to get out in case of a fire! [...]
I have my Tata Nano top end model ready for delievery at BU Bhandari, Pune. The car was ready on 31 st March 2010, but, as the case of fire at Mumbai on 23rd March. I have refused to take the car from Showroom. I have asked Tata Motors to complete their investigation on the fire incidet on the car in Mumbai as well as another car near Vadodra in first week of April 2010. On completion of investigation I need Tata Motors to complete the defect which is found on those cars on my registered vehicle and certify it is safe. It is almost two months and no movent has been heard from Tata Motors. RTO’s are merely registering the vehicles, which they should have stopped unless the problem is resolved. I need some guidace from knowledgable people to know what options do I have in store.
These burning car incidents are scary- now the recent Skoda in Mohali and an i10 in Chennai. Manufacturers have to be careful.
As human i feel TATA the best always.My hand always up for TATA.I wont believe to the incident happen to NANO this must be a planning by somebody to let TATA name down.Always TATA the first and also the first.
[...] [????: IndianAutosBlog] [...]
India–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. Minutes later, after the software engineer’s wife and 5-year-old son clambered out of the back seat, flames erupted from the rear-mounted engine in the tiny car. – News
Second time fire – This may not be / should not be happen again. Please deliver the cars to the customer after rectifying the defects. P.Vadivel Chennai – 101
Dear Mr. Sawant,
PRAY TO GOD, as this is TATA COMPANY and not going to APOLOGIZE in any case, and will give you DIPLOMATIC ANSWER ONLY.
TUMHARI JAAN BACH GAYEE, YEHI BHAGWAN KA SUKAR HAI. DON’T EXPECT ANYTHING MORE FROM TATA’S.
I SUGGEST YOU FILE A CASE WITH THE HELP OF BEST LAWYER, THEN ONLY THESE PEOPLE WILL LEARN.
TRAFFIC MEIN JAB HAWALDAR PAKADTA HEIN TO KYA KEHTA HAI: EK BAAR PENALTY BHAROGE TABHI SUDHAROGE.
Very true!!! The situation needs investigation. There has to be something beyond the Nano’s pricing and quality that caused this fire!!!
The possibility of a rear engine cannot be the cause of the fire!!!! Globally renouned Ferraris, Porshes also have rear mounted engine set-ups. And they’re simply the best.
See and btw, Tata is a very new car manufacturer. Much newer than the Toyota’s, Honda’s of the lott. Are you guy aware of what happended to vehicle they sold??????
It is really sad and unfortunate Nano is dragged into this needless controversy with utter disregard to propriety and whether all this is believable. Among the multiple roles played by media, the most important one is to enable readers make intelligent choices. Some is just making an attempt to tarnish the image of Tata who have created one of the largest conglomerates
On the face of it this is an accidental incident that nearly cost the life of the driver and owner. Should we assume its real, surely we have to assume yes, should we be alarmed perhaps, lets wait for more detail from Tata. I dont want to suggest guilt by association but Toyota’s unfortunate experience suggests that being the least bit slow to assume customer problems are real can be quite a poor choice of action. (look at Jack Welch’s interview on Toyota’s woes recorded Tuesday 23rd Mar on CNBC)
It may not be easy to accept the suggestion that Tata designed and manufactured a vehicle that caught fire when brand new and without warning. But please can we avoid denial and citicism of the journalist. A Tata on fire on the side of the road is news so it gets reported, the investigative journalism happens after that. If its real or not the consumer’s safety is involved so consumers have a right to know both the news and the investigation. Whether we like to imagine its real or not keeping it from consumers would be thoroughly irresponsible. What the consumer does with the news is up to them.
Not only are many 1000′s of precious lives at stake but Tata’s Brand as an automotive manufacturer. In today’s world high consumers are fussy and word travels fast making high quality and dependable reliability a really big deal.
[...] will keep you posted. With IndianAutosBlog Tags: tata [...]
crazy!!
[...] company is now in the process of investigating the possible causes behind the Tata Nano which went up in flames yesterday in Mumbai, minutes after it was delivered to its customer in Prabhadevi, [...]
lucky they live….
hope not will happen again
what are the chances?! insurance agent’s car catching fire…in all probability it is corporate conspiracy to give the nano and tatas bad publicity…not fair….
i also allege biased blogging here….look how the post ends
“The biggest disadvantage of placing the engine at the rear is lack of proper cooling. Could this incident have happened due to the inefficient design of the cooling system? “……….?????
it is akin to this logic:
Que: Why Do We See Lightning Before We Hear Thunder? Ans: Because the eyes is before the ears…..
to the reporter:- please follow up on the cars that caught fire, do some investigative journalism, posting that a car caught fire is incomplete if you have’nt followed up on the investigation and the details as to why it caught fire….