Tata Confirms Nano Fire, Denies Any Design Flaw

Less than a month's time after a Tata Nano caught fire in Mumbai, another model was caught up in flames today. The car was part of 11 Tata Nanos being driven to a dealer in Makarpura, making it this year's second incident of this kind involving the Nano.

Tata Motors described the first fire as a "stray incident", but now an official spokesperson of the company acknowledged the problem. "One vehicle from a fleet of cars that was being transported to the dealer’s showroom caught fire on the way. We don’t know what led to the fire. We are investigating the cause of this fire. It was not sold to anybody,” said Tata Motors’ official spokesperson quoted by Reuters.

"We are sure that it is not a design flaw. We are looking into it," he said, adding that the Nano had complied with all safety requirements. Last month a Nano was engulfed in flames in the western city of Mumbai minutes after it had been delivered to a customer, local media reports said. Last week PM Telang, the managing director of Tata Motors' domestic operations, told reporters the fire incident in Mumbai was being investigated. "We are still investigating the cause of the fire," he said.

Tata Motors started deliveries of the Nano in July last year and there are now over 30,000 on Indian roads, the report said. Last year a few Nanos caught fire and the company said it had identified the problem as faulty ignition switches and was changing the vendor who had supplied the parts. Tata plans to sell petrol-powered versions in Europe by next year and in the United States in the next three years.