Brand-new Nano bursts into flames

Mumbai: Satish Sawant was proudly driving his first car home from the showroom: A brand-new silver Tata Nano, draped with a celebratory garland of marigolds.

Then there was smoke. And then there was fire.

Minutes after the software engineer's wife and five-year-old son clambered out of the back seat, smoke from the engine, located in the Nano's rear, erupted into flames that engulfed the tiny car.

His ordeal showed just the latest problem with the low-cost Nano - raising fresh questions about safety and quality as top Indian carmaker Tata Motors sets its sights on global expansion and aims to ramp up production of the Nano with a new factory next month.

"My wife now doesn't want to buy any car," Sawant said by phone from his home in northern Mumbai on Thursday. "She doesn't even want to go for a Mercedes."

Image: A Tata Nano burst into flames on a Mumbai road on Thursday. The car belonging to Satish Sawant, a software engineer, was driving it home from the showroom when the sudden fire engulfed the vehicle