Tata Motors cites “inaccurate media reports” it is to recall its budget Nano model, although it is providing upgraded protection for the vehicle.
Earlier this year, the Indian manufacturer vehemently denied it was recalling the Nano following several combustion incidents, with two vehicles catching fire and and several similar events in 2009.
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It is unclear where the reports have come from but Tata has issued a strong statement countering any suggestions it was recalling the Nano.
“Tata Motors is not recalling Nanos. We would like to state again, as we had done in May 2010, the Tata Nano is a safe car with a robust design,” said the statement.
“This has been re-confirmed through a second analysis, conducted during September and October 2010, and customers can rest assured that there are no generic defects in the Tata Nano.”
Tata will provide what it says is “additional protection in the exhaust system and the electrical system,” although it has not outlined what this will specifically entail.
Starting in the third week of November, each owner will be informed about the measures and will have the option whether to take up the free offer or not. “These actions do not constitute a recall,” it adds.
However, the automaker notes an investigation has concluded the reasons for the incidents “in a few Tata Nano cars are specific to those individual cars where, in some instances, the team investigation noticed the installation of foreign electrical equipment or foreign material having been left on the exhaust system.”
It nonetheless adds as it “penetrates deeper into the Indian market,” the Tata Nano will increasingly be bought by users in the “hinterlands not fully familiar to cars,” providing one of the reasons for the upgrade offer.
By the end of October Tata said it had delivered more than 70,000 Tata Nano cars. The company has sales in Kerala since August 2010 and in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal since last month.
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