Google – AFP, 8 February 2014
 |
A
compressed natural gas (CNG) Maruti 800 taxi in Mumbai on March 28,
2010
(AFP/File, Sajjad Hussain)
|
New Delhi —
India's Maruti Suzuki said Saturday it had halted production of its iconic
first small car, the Maruti 800, which revolutionised road transport for
millions of Indians.
The boxy,
four-seater hatchback -- the first car ever owned by many Indian middle class
families -- was first manufactured in 1983 and more than 2.4 million have been
sold since.
"We
have stopped the M-800 (Maruti 800) production completely," C.V. Raman,
executive director Maruti Suzuki told reporters at India's premier auto fair in
the New Delhi suburb of Greater Noida that winds up Sunday.
 |
Maruti 800
cars are parked outside the
factory in Gurgaon, Haryana on
December 12, 2008
(AFP/File, Prakash
Singh)
|
The
no-frills car has been eclipsed by newer, fancier models.
But even as
the car drives into history, spare parts will be available for customers for
eight to 10 years, a company spokesman said.
The car,
costing 50,000 rupees ($803) when launched, is now priced at 235,000 rupees,
according to a company website.
In 1981,
when Maruti Udyog was formed as a state-run company, Indian drivers had just
two options if they wanted to buy locally made cars -- and often a five-year
wait to get the keys.
Premier
Automobiles produced cars with help from Italy's Fiat, while Hindustan Motors
made the bulky Ambassador. Both were private companies.
Prime
minister Indira Gandhi gave Japan's Suzuki the green light to pick up a stake
in Maruti Udyog -- an unprecedented move at a time when India's economy was
largely closed.
Suzuki's
stake has since grown from 26 percent to over 50 percent.
Since the
Maruti 800, India's car revolution has gathered pace, with total car sales
running at close to two million units a year.
India is
expected to become the world's third-largest car market by 2020, according to
industry estimates.
Maruti now
produces a range of cars from hatchbacks to sedans.
Liberalisation
policies since the early 1990s spawned a rising middle class with higher
incomes who also have become targets of foreign car companies which have driven
into the country to propel global sales.
But Maruti
still maintains its dominance of the Indian market, accounting for nearly one
out of two new cars sold in India.
No comments:
Post a Comment