Tata Motors Ltd. said that one of its $2,500 Nano models caught fire today in New Delhi, at least the third reported case in India this year involving the world’s cheapest car.
“We will investigate the incident,” said Debasis Ray, the spokesman for the Mumbai-based company, declining to specify a possible cause. “We had subjected the car to a thorough check and the team had concluded that the Nano is absolutely safe” following the two earlier fires.
Tata has sold more than 50,000 Nanos since the company began deliveries of the car in July 2009. A 20-member internal team and an independent forensic expert found that one previous fire involved a foreign object igniting while in contact with a hot exhaust system, while the other showed evidence of a ruptured fuel line, Tata said on May 21.
A subsequent program to inspect all the Nano cars already sold was to “to allay concerns by owners,” Tata said at the time, saying the project was not a recall.
Tata opened a dedicated plant in June to build the Nano. Tata raised the car’s prices by as much as 4 percent last month.
