Sales of the Nano, launched by Tata Motors to much fanfare in March 2009 as the world’s cheapest car, sputtered to just 509 during the month of November, an 85 percent drop from a year earlier despite a surging Indian auto market.

Media reports of a handful of spontaneous fires, difficulty getting financing to purchase the cars and rising prices have hurt sales of the Nano, which was launched at Rs 1 lakh and targeted Indians wanting to upgrade from motorcycles.