Tata Motors has directed almost 1.40-lakh Tata Nano owners to bring back their cars for change of the starter motor free-of-cost. This is considered as the biggest-ever replacement exercise in the automobile history of India.

The auto manufacturer has stated that it is changing the old starter motor with a new and improved one. This exercise is expected to cost the company almost Rs 110 crore. The company has initiated the exercise in October and has already replaced the starter motor in almost 50,000-Nano units.

Acording to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data, Tata Motors has sold overall 1,40,428-Nano units till November this year, since the car’s unveiling in 2009.

On November 21 this year, Tata Motors has introduced an upgraded Nano with a facelift, a more powerful engine, improved fuel efficiency and also new features, while maintaining the price the same, with the aim to strengthen the sales.

In November last year, Tata Motors has urged almost 70,000-Nano buyers to get back their cars to add fire safety devices free-of-cost after instances of the car catching fire have been reported.

Mr Deepesh Rathore,IHS Automotive India Head, said, “Tata Motors, like any other car-maker, wants to ensure that its customers are satisfied with their product. So they are willingly replacing the starters in all available Nanos in the market.”

In the past, Maruti Suzuki India’s recall of one-lakh units of its A-Star hatchback in 2009 to replace a fuel pump gasket to check possible fuel leakage has been the biggest.