[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

While we are into statistics, can we count the ratio of the number of people who were killed in a Maruti car crash which they may not have been had the cars been built sturdier and/or with safety devices ? This kind of statistical analysis makes no sense.
.

Sorry mate, that made no sense. We are talking about an inherent issue with a car while you are talking about accidents. Kindly read through the thread.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Sorry mate, that made no sense. We are talking about an inherent issue with a car while you are talking about accidents. Kindly read through the thread.

The point is about inherent design deficiency from safety perspective referred to for the other OEMs. Accident is just the triggering point. In any case, my larger point is part of my reply. Statistical comparison has no meaning at this time, unless this trend of incidents continues or spikes up.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

The point is about inherent design deficiency from safety perspective referred to for the other OEMs. Accident is just the triggering point. In any case, my larger point is part of my reply. Statistical comparison has no meaning at this time, unless this trend of incidents continues or spikes up.

Agreed, only time has to tell. Let's see how this turns out for MG.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by discoverwild

If the customer was guilty of an "after-market" fitment or leaving behind a "flammable foreign object" in the engine bay, why was MG in such a hurry to provide him a new car? They are absolved of all responsibility if the above mentioned scenarios were true, isn't it?

Asking all the right questions

Hats off to MG’s PR department though. The company’s Marketing is something many old hands in the market can take tips from!

[CarJunki]

Seems MG is taking a leaf out of how other companies have treated Indian customers.
There used to be times when skoda would claim there is water in fuel.
DCT failures being blamed on bad drivers not knowing how to drive.
This one is about how customers do not know how to clean a 19 day old car.

The magnanimity shown by SIAC (MG) in this case is really going beyond the call of duty. Giving a new car for customers own fault is unheard of anywhere in the world. We have now a world beating customer service. Simply amazing!

[charanreddy]

Personally, to me it appears that MG has paid the customer off and is trying to get away with out too much damage or enquiry into its brand and practices. Does not inspire confidence at all..

With the long list of malpractices by Chinese companies including the Tavera emissions scandal in which the current MD was also involved, it is hard to disassociate the brand from its origin despite many members suggesting otherwise.

[arbaz906]

Hmm..
If MG found from their "investigation" that it was a foreign object placed by the owner which caused the fire, the first reaction of theirs should have been
"It's your fault, you are responsible, we are clean. Go sue us if you want"
But nooo
"Sure sir, you placed a cloth where you shouldn't have and burnt up your vehicle, no issues, here's a brand new one. Enjoy!"

So? tomorrow if another customer wants a new Hector, all he has to do is place a petrol soaked rag near the engine manifold?
This is a coverup. Period.
They've convinced the owner to hush the matter and enjoy his new Hector.

Our country has millions of vehicles, driven by all sorts of owners/drivers who have their own practices of cleaning/maintaining their cars. You've got spliced wires, loose hanging cables, clogged up filters, those oiled soaked 'waste' fabric cloths that mechanics use, stuffed at various places in the car.
A vehicle should be catching fire each week somewhere in India then.

MG has to understand one thing.
No matter how they cover it up with their PR and news manipulation this time, if it is indeed a fault in the Hector, then there will be another one up in flames tomorrow. Better find out the root cause, own it up and do a recall of the affected vehicles. They have to realize this, one more fire, and no amount of PR magic will work.

[landcruiser123]

Two and two don’t add up. Something is definitely fishy here.

2 reported cases of cars going up in flames is strange. Adding to that, the speed if the conclusive press release puzzles me. Clutch woes of another customer makes me wonder what’s happening behind the scenes.

I’ve no bias based on the country-of-origin of the brand, but would like MG to come clean. In fact, I want them to be successful to enhance competition in the Indian market.

[nasa_hubble]

To me the most probable government department seems to be the fire services. They are the first responders and are trained to identify the source of the fire and the material causing it. RTI may yield some answers.

As for the cloth in the engine bay. If so, its the customer who is at fault and no company would replace cars for mistakes of the car owner.

Things are just not adding up.

[autoholic]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Two and two don’t add up. Something is definitely fishy here.

2 reported cases of cars going up in flames is strange. Adding to that, the speed if the conclusive press release puzzles me. Clutch woes of another customer makes me wonder what’s happening behind the scenes.

I’ve no bias based on the country-of-origin of the brand, but would like MG to come clean. In fact, I want them to be successful to enhance competition in the Indian market.

Whats more fishy is owner of the vehicle which caught fire in Delhi made a statement wherein he owned up to having fitted some after market accessories to his vehicle which may have caused the fire.

Which owner will issue such a statement thereby ruining his chances to a successful insurance claim? Until and unless he was assured of a brand new vehicle prior to issuance of such a statement to the press.

Had I been in the owner's place, I in most probability would have done the same deal. Any fatality(god forbid) in the case would have changed the result altogether. But I would have sold the replacement as soon as getting it and not opt to drive around in a funeral pyre on wheels.

[NTO]

Only the Hector customer forgot a cloth inside the engine bay and not any of the Compass's or the Harrier's customers did. Apparently all three use the same engine which gets heated up to approximately the same temperature.

Originally Posted by NTO

As a goodwill gesture and for the new manufacturer in India to save name, they should cover it under warranty and replace the car to the customer. Had it been me in such a situation, I would've fought for a full refund and buy a more common and proven product than using a product which once threatened the lives of my deared ones and me

Quoting myself, MG has tried to do damage control and shutting the mouth of the customer by giving them a new Hector while still pointing out that the mistake was that of the customer's. I would like to follow the customer and see what he/ she does to the new Hector given to him/her. If they sell it off and buy another car, then I am damn sure MG is in a hell of a lot more crap than they think they are in!

[ninjatalli]

I think we need to look at it from a realistic perspective than a high-seat / utopian view we bhpians tend to take (while giving advice / views).

Owner's perspective: Get a working/new car at the earliest. MG is ready to provide a new car; with a non-disclosure agreement and a public "statement" to be issued by the owner? Sure - he's not going to disagree.

- Time after time when owners put up a thread on this forum regarding malpractice/lemons/etc, we always advice to push for a new vehicle or repair/replace (parts) by the dealership. So in above case, yes that was achieved. Even without any court cases or public noise made!

MG's perspective: Do damage control - ensure this doesn't turn into a Nano (- fire) situation or anything of that sort which would impact the dream sales run they have been seeing. As already seen on the forum, it doesn't take long for the average Joe to jump to "chinese=poor" mindset application to MG vehicles.

- Offer new cars, issue enough threats (or carrots) to news agencies to ensure minimal news, and do damage control completely
- No one has reported any MG service advisor or sales guy giving a different perspective than the official narrative
- Sales seem to be unaffected; the global narrative remains the same

The average Joe / Our perspective: Irrelevant at most. Fishy case? Yes, definitely. But then so are most issues seen across brands over the last decade. Unless we have a strong regulatory body that oversees the automobile industry with an iron hand, cases like these are going to be buried efficiently!

- Relevant if this is a critical problem that is not handled pro-actively by MG and we see more cases of fires in Hectors across the country. Then the fat is truly in the fire.

[saisree]

The debris of the material could be suggestive of the presence of foreign material such as cleaning cloth or something similar which could have been the cause of fire under contact with high temperature parts of the exhaust system.

You found that, you have two customers who kept cleaning cloth inside the engine bay. I Pity you MG and pray for your well being.

Could this cloth type material found in the debris be the damping material on the hood?

We would like to apprise you that the customer and his family are very satisfied with out response and handling of the issue. They are happily driving another Hector.

Couldn't resist. I have been reading the response from MG on this issue for the nth time and it always reminds me of some person who writes the manual and operating procedures for a Chinese Product.

[wheelguy]

GOI or any other concerned authority wouldn't like to do any strict followup regarding these kind of issues because they don't want to deter these companies which were bringing with them crores of rupees of investment. Being strict to any one foreign investor means dissuading all the future prospective investors which is the last thing that any government ever wanted unless it doesn't need any investments.

[neil.jericho]

Many of you may not know this but around 10 years ago, there were reports of Yamaha R15 motorcycles getting burnt after fire originated from the fairing panels. What was happening was that owners were storing / leaving the cleaning cloth in the gap in the fairing. Unusual you might think, but Indians like to tuck in a small cleaning cloth somewhere on the bike and the R15 didnt really have any nooks to store the cloth, so owners just tucked it into the fairing panel gap. This led to some motorcycles catching fire. Yamaha responded by upgrading the panel to include some mesh and this prevented the fires from reoccurring in future. It was a well known issue and widely discussed on the Xbhp forum

Maybe, something similar has happened with the MG Hectors in question. It isnt improbable.

What I believe has happened is as follows
- Driver / cleaner might have left a cloth in the engine bay accidentally
- Social media latches on the issue without knowing all the details
- MG shifts into investigative and PR mode
- MG replaces the car(s) in question for free as a goodwill measure knowing fully well that this can blow out of proportion in a matter of a few days, even if MG is not in the wrong
- Owner issues clarification statement confirming that he is happy

Of course, this is just my interpretation of the turn of events, I too do not know what exactly has transpired. And hence I do not pass judgement on the same. Let us not be the judge, jury and executioner without having facts on the table.

Overall, I really liked the response by MG.