Why nano catches fire

Main Menu Search nationalpost. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team. Tata Motors has unveiled a European version of the Nano and is looking to sell the vehicle in the United States.

Both models will have to be redesigned to meet higher safety standards. Shopping essentials. The It List: Vans launches collection with a more 'sustainable approach' American shoe brand Vans has a new "sustainable approach" with the launch of the Eco Theory collection.

Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Thanks for signing up! Calgary mayor-elect Jyoti Gondek refuses to participate as councillor Sean Chu is sworn in. Donald Trump Jr. The same could not be said about the Nano. So, a major issue with it was that it was not a motorbike. While it was small, it simply was not small and convenient enough for people who were used to motorbikes. Image credit: Lucianf, Flickr. Also, the Nano was more expensive to maintain than a bike and made car owner ship more expensive.

The lack of standard features that are usually expected in such vehicles also made the Nano feel cheaper. Both these differences compared to bikes could have been overcome with a better and safer design as well as a more refined look and feel. Car sales in this segment were extremely sensitive to how good a vehicle looks.

The automaker was under the misconception that the low price would be enough to motivate people to buy the Nano. After all, who wants a daily driver that looks cheap and is poorly built? Simply put, those who could afford a higher end Nano did not want to drive it. Also, when people are status conscious, they look for things that make them look wealthier than their neighbors and colleagues.

An older, used sedan or hatchback that was more expensive when it was first launched would have more value for such a market than a new one that was marketed as cheap. One of the most challenging aspects of marketing a vehicle like the Nano is advertising. A basic rule of advertising is to create an emotional connection or a bond with the audience that makes them want to experience the product.

Tata failed to do so with their advertisements for the Nano. While some TV commercials were fairly good, most of their audiences simply could not relate to what they were seeing on screen. If the bad positioning was not enough, the fact that people also could not relate to the advertisements made things a lot worse. In a country where emotions play such a vital role in everything, this disconnect spelled doom for the Nano before it even hit the roads.

One of the most significant problems with the Nano was its safety rating. The Nano lacked airbags and proper adult protection. It also did not meet basic UN safety requirements and was not as safe as Tata had claimed and expected it to be. The Nano was also very lightweight which made it a very bad choice for the usual Indian roads which are not always smooth as silk. That also meant that it felt unsafe to drive because of the simple lack of bulk. On top of that, several incidents were reported in which the Nano caught fire for mysterious reasons.

He had parked it and was waiting in the car for something when he noticed sparks at the back. He jumped out, and within minutes the car was ablaze. So far, six Nanos have gone up in flames.

About 50, of these cars have rolled out until now, and the new Sanand plant will soon be making 20, every month. In comparison, six sounds like a low number—but a car on fire forms a powerful image. Some more incidents, and the perception could possibly crumble. No one really knows why the Nanos went up in flames. In public, Tata Motors almost appears nonchalant. Following the Sawant car incident in March and another flare-up in Baroda in April, the company appointed a committee which came back with a report in May.

There was the promise of a check up of all cars that had been put out. It looked as if some semblance of control had been imposed on the bad news. But now that the Delhi fire has happened, the matter is back to square one.

Tata Motors attributed the first couple of cases to the melting of localised parts caused by faulty combination switches.

A company spokesperson contacted by Open says that it cannot be instantly verified if the Delhi glitch was similar to the one that caused two others earlier this year. We even changed the vendor who supplied the wiring kit. The remedial measures notwithstanding, we voluntarily decided to check each and every Nano sold so far. The engine was not on, yet there was a spark.

It is possible that it the spark is coming from the fuel injection system. He pins it on poor quality control. You design certain things on a piece of paper, you test it in the lab, then the products are given to the vendors to manufacture, then there is quality control.

I think it is something to do with a defective part, and the problem is with quality control. But I would not be alarmed. This is an out-of-the-box product and all products take time to stabilise. I would still call these the burning Nanos isolated incidents. The Nano has been almost eerily chased by bad news right from inception. Before this, the land had been flooded in the rains, which delayed the project. After the Singur land agitation, Tata Motors pulled out and relocated to Gujarat, forcing further delays and the use of the Pantnagar plant for small assembly runs.

And now that it is finally out on Indian streets, there are fires. Apparently, smoke emanated from the cars due to a short circuit. But that is not true. It does happen to other cars as well. Consider this experience of a man from Kerala as recounted in an online car forum, team-bhp. Another news item put up in the forum talks about a Mercedes, no less, catching fire on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. He believes the car has some manufacturing defect.