Three years later the Nano has faced a spontaneous-combusting debacle while despite the booming Indian car market; its sales have dropped significantly. So Tata decided to do a little publicity stand in order to bring its car once again into the spotlight.
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It turns out that this was a smart move, as sales of the Nano spiked reaching 5,784 units, which represents a 1,136% increase over the 509 units the company shifted a month earlier. This is still below the 9,000 monthly sales record achieved in July, but it seems that the Nano is back with a vengeance for 2011.
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As previously reported, Tata Nano sales in India have dropped significantly in the past few month, with just 509 customers opting for the US $2,900 micro car, down from 9,000 in July. It seems that Indian buyers have higher aspirations and are moving away from the Nano, as the nation’s market is booming. Reliability issues and a few spontaneously combusting units didn’t help sales either.
To mend the situation, the automaker has extended the car’s warranty and launched a new TV ad, depicting the Nano as the most lovable thing of Earth. Hit the jump to watch the commercial.
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With economic growth at a staggering 9% per annum and a 22% year-to-date increase in car sales, Tata must have felt it was onto a sure thing. Things started out good, with 200,000 advanced orders for the sub-subcompact before its 2009 launch.
However, sales have been flagging these past four months with the Indian carmaker selling just 509 Nano’s in November, down from 9,000 in July.
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Despite its small size (it only measures 2.4 meters in length), the NT3 is a highly versatile vehicle, with multiple cabin configurations, also made possible by the center driving position. It uses a spaceframe architecture with crashbox, meaning that it's safer than it looks. Power comes from internal combustion engines or a hybrid powertrain.
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.
According to Indian news sites, the particular Nano was owned by insurance agent Satish Sawant who had just bought the car from a dealership in Prabhadevi, Mumbai, that provided him with a chauffeur as he -surprise, surprise- didn't know how to drive.
