Flame on! Fifth Tata Nano Bursts into Flames...

Another Nano, the fifth from since 2009, has gone up in smoke, this time in Gujarat, western India. For reference, the last one toasted itself in Mumbai in late March, 2010. According to Business Week, an email from Tata states that "the car belonged to the company and has no design flaw."

Bursting into flames due to "faulty switches that caused smoke and plastic parts to melt" seems like a possible design flaw to me.

As for an update regarding Tata's Mumbai victim (Tata still can't determine the cause of the fire), Satish Purshotam Sawant wants some compensation for putting him and his family in danger...in the form of Rs 15 lakhs (1,500,000 Rupees or ~$33,700 US) and a Fiat Punto. Tata says no dice: it's either a new Nano or a full refund.

In response, Sawant has filed a First Information Report with local authorities.

"It's been ten days and there's been no response from Tata Motors or Concorde [the dealer where Sawant purchased the car]. I've read in the newspapers that [Tata spokesman] Debasis Ray says technical investigations are on. Isn't it Tata Motors' responsibility to give details of the investigation?"

Yes, yes it is.

We'll see how this plays out.

By Phil Alex

Via: Businessweek and Moneycontrol