Are Nano safe, asks European Union before embracing this much touted dream venture of Tatas

The cheapest car in the world had hit the roads of Mumbai a couple of years back. This much hyped vehicle was initially expected to replace most taxis and autos in Mumbai, that turned out to be a damp squib.

The ‘dream’ car, Nano, was born after Narendra Modi appeared on the scene and bailed out Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata from Left-Mamata squabble and the Singur fiasco. The rest is history.   

Since its high-decibel launch in March 2009, the Nano has often been in the news for the wrong reasons.

The inexpensive, rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by 

the trustworthy concern supposedly heavily upgraded to meet EU safety and emission standards, but the car seems to be smitten by fire bugs ever since its inception. 

There have been six known instances of the car catching fire. In October 2010, Tata Motors offered to install additional fire resistant safety systems in the 70,000-odd Nanos already sold.

In December last year, Tata Motors announced that it will recall all Nanos on the streets (except for the 2012 models) to replace the starter motors.

Monthly sales of the car dropped drastically in 2010— from 9,000 in July to 8,103 in August and 509 units in November 2010. Sales were later revived with the help of some strong marketing initiative by the company. Now, it sells a Nano at a down payment of Rs.15,000, with easy instalments.

The company sold 6,401 Nanos in November 2011. In the April to November period the same year the company sold 39,646 units of the Nano compared with 40,796 a year ago.

The company is also considering entering the Indonesian market by striking a contract manufacturing deal with a local company to sell the Nano and other products.

The two independent fire incidents of the iconic car the Tata Nano in past few months have led to lot of fear in the minds of Tata Nano owners and potential buyers. Tata Motors have finally come up with a conclusion after long investigation into both these incidents conducted by a team of 20 members from Tata Motors and an independent forensic expert.

The investigations have revealed that the two fire incidents were not related. The Nano Fire Accident in Mumbai has been suspected because of the presence of some foreign matter on the hot exhaust of the car which led to fire. The Vadodra Nano Fire Accident was found to be because of a ruptured fuel-line of the car.

After these findings, Tata Motors have declared the Tata Nano as safe and it will perform a safety inspection for all the Tata Nano users in India free of cost. The safety inspection are not a part of any recall, rather these are intended to inspect any safety flaws etc. in these cars. If any flaws are found in particular cars, they will be fixed by Tata. Tata will contact Nano customers and will fix appointments for such inspections.

Rising competition and slowing car sales are pushing car makers to become more customer friendly, raising the number of similar actions by companies.

The initiative by Tata Motors is a responsible one, but it may not go down well with customers, said Puneet Gupta, an analyst at IHS Automotive, a global research and sales forecasting firm. “The Nano’s image may take a further dent,” Gupta said.

On a thorough analysis through all the six cases of fire, the first three incidents have been resolved. So, one can assure that there will not be any smoke due to short circuit in the steering column and hence all the Nano cars which were delivered with Minda’s connection switch, till now, are working fine. The fourth case in Mumbai was concluded with a foreign element interrupting the Nano’s exhaust, which may be acceptable. But what about the fuel line rupturing in the fifth case. Does it mean that the fuel line is not up to the standards?

It is a 5-year-old car that has crossed thousands of kms without any problem. But, why has this car caught fire? Does it mean that fire accidents may happen even after a few months of using Nano? These questions have tarnished its image beyond repair.

Tata Motors will only sell its Nano microcar in Europe if it achieves a 

high safety rating. This brilliant, low cost little car has been a marketing disaster. To make matters worse, a few cars burst into flames, raising fears about the Nano's safety. Sales dipped as never witnessed in Tata’s history. 
The Nano's marketing problems began with its product positioning too.