Warm Farewell For Maruti 800

For past three decades this car provided the rites of passage for every middle class Indian graduating from two to four wheelers. Hence its swan song evoked a welter of emotions as it was the original people's car on Indian roads. Though many other aspirants for that title came along, none could replicate the success of Maruti 800.

This small car had become a signature vehicle for the middle class, though over a period of time it did get devalued by few notches when other better options came along. However the fact that the car will stop rolling out of assembly lines evokes a lump in throat even among those who had traded their Maruti 800 long ago for far more spacious offerings.

However the little remembered fact is that the birth pangs this car suffered were enormous. It had to go through a politico-legal wringer before the first car rolled out of the assembly line. The Maruti project was the baby of the then political enfant terrible Sanjay Gandhi and was seen as an example of cronyism in the licence permit raj. After the Janata government came to power in 1977 the company was liquidated, a commission was formed to investigate various scandals associated with it. Meanwhile, the factory at Gurgaon (not a single car had rolled out by then) was mothballed during its tenure.

A year after Indira Gandhi came back to power in 1980, it was decided to revive the venture. Under the chairmanship of V Krishnamurthy, a civil servant, the hunt for a foreign collaborator began. They zeroed in on Japanese auto major Suzuki (more famous for its motorcycles) and as per the JV signed, Suzuki were to supply compact built units. The rest they say is history.

The blooming of Maruti 800 coincided with the rise of Indian middle class and with the liberalization of the 1990s its sales entered top gear. Easy finance options made the car all the more affordable. Soon it became an indispensable component of 'decent marriages' (a euphemism used in newspaper matrimonial ads to hint that lavish dowry will be paid, as against 'simple marriage') and replaced Bajaj and Lambretta scooters (both now reduced to museum pieces) from the dowry list. It became an aspirational car for the yuppies and the affluent class in the hinterlands.

Soon the Indian roads began getting overrun by these 800 cc wonders and elbowed out old jalopies such as Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Though it was no match to their size and spaciousness, it made up for it by being generations ahead in terms of technology. Its low turning radius made it easier to handle on crowded city roads and gallis.

The coming of Zen in mid-nineties and later Korean players such as Hyundai Santro and Daewoo Matiz took some sheen off its prime position.  But the doughty Maruti 800 soldiered on, aged gracefully and displayed a longevity way beyond anybody's expectation. Even today it maintains a commanding position in the entry level segment, despite cheaper offering like Tata Nano. Hopefully Maruti will continue its entry level dominance with Alto 800.

Picture courtesy: Facebook

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Tata Nano In Its Labyrinth

The Tata Nano's poor run on sales front now even has Ratan Tata worried. He now says the whole idea of packaging it as a 'cheap car' was a mistake. Tata Nano had created a worldwide pre-launch buzz in 2008 on this 'cheap' tag and auto experts in West and Far East were baffled as to how someone could sell a car for a mere $2,000 (the rupee was in a much better shape those days).

Back home auto analysts had felt that for the price conscious Indian consumer the Rs 1-lakh car (though the actual cost was much higher) will be a steal too hard to resist. After all it is an established fact that Indians are suckers for anything cheap; you just need to look at the cell phone market and see how sub-Rs 10,000 smartphones by Micromax and Karbonn are selling.

They opined that it will soon transform the way middle and lower-middle class Indians commute, somewhat akin to what Maruti 800 did in 1990s to upper middle class. Rivals Suzuki and Hyundai were wondering how Nano will impact their own entry level offerings such as Alto and Eon respectively.

Motorists reeling under traffic jams and potholed roads were left wondering as to how much their regular commuting time will increase, once the roads get overrun by Nanos.

Environmentalists with knitted brows saw it as a recipe for disaster with impending spike in pollution levels in our cities and small towns. Nobel Prize winner Rajendra Pachauri confessed he was having 'nightmares' about the proposed car. But now these people can breathe easy as Tata Nano has not exactly set its sales graph on fire. Though initially there was some novelty interest, subsequently the deliveries never took off as expected.

I remember a friend of mine who happened to see a Nano in motion for the first time had remarked, "I thought some luggage auto was coming from behind, before I actually saw the car."

Tata Nano's 'cheap' tag became more of a liability than an USP. Firstly Tatas were unable to sell the car at promised Rs 1 lakh and secondly the actual price was within the striking distance of Hyundai Eon and Maruti Alto 800, which offered far better features like power steering and their after sales service was much better. Moreover the used cars' market too offered vehicles with much better features at more or less same price. So why settle for a glorified auto rickshaw and be called the owner of a 'cheap' car! To add to their misery the news of some cars catching fire went viral on the net and Tatas were left fire-fighting adverse publicity.

Now it is planning a makeover to appeal to youngsters and urban professionals by pepping up on the colour and exterior design front. It is even bringing in a power steering and a diesel version, albeit at a higher price. But the youth segment often aspires for power and speed, which I doubt Nano can fulfill. Rural market holds promise, but then it runs the risk of getting stigmatised as dehati car.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

A Pat For Good Old Amby

The yesteryear's iconic car got an unexpected encomium from an exalted automobile forum - BBC's Top Gear. A honour which, probably, the car did not receive even during its hey days. The car has been voted as the world's best taxi. Describing the car as 'virtually indestructible' the statement says "It's (Ambassador) so tough that, although it now lives in World of Top Gear, with a quick wash and brush up, it could be back in service tomorrow - probably".

The reaction in India, the home to Ambassador car, was more of surprise and amusment, rather than any sense of pride or achievement. The car has been reduced to dinosaur status on Indian roads and this news is unlikely to create any extra buzz at its Uttarapara plant (which also happens to be India's oldest car plant) in West Bengal.

These cars, with hoods resembling bowler hats, once lorded over the Indian roads. Its high ground clearance was seen as a perfect antidote to the vagaries of Indian roads. And thanks to the Government's licence permit raj, the car had a competition free journey until the 1990s.

The car's manufacturers, Hindustan Motors (HM), milked the captive market by doling out antiquated offering with nothing much to write home about on the fuel economy and maintenance front. They were shortchanging customers by offering new 'models' (Mark 3, Mark 4 etc), which at best only meant a redesigned front grille.

The liberalisation of 1990s came as a hard knock and the management could do precious little to stop its rapid slide in market share. Customers rejected it as an expensive, unwieldy and old fashioned jalopy and it soon ceased to be among the top preference for family cars.  It did bring in features such as power steering and power windows, but it was too little too late.

The next to go was the taxi segment with Tata Indicas, Indigo and later Mahindra Logan doing the honours of replacing them.

Soon it got relegated to its last stand - the Government of India. With 'laal batti' on its hood it was a constant in most motorcades of our political netas. But of late even the political class seems to be going for more hi-tech offerings such as Toyota Corollas, Innovas and fancy SUVs and Ambassadors have been reduced to pilot vehicles.

Last heard that the C K Birla owned company has not totally given up and will be launching a BS4 version of Ambassador and that too under a new name.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Rise and Fall of Contessa

Hi, remember me? These days you would see me mostly in the scrap yards or 'rusting' in peace in some god forsaken places. But I wish to tell everyone, especially the Smartphone generation, that I had seen much better days in the past.

I hit the road sometime around 1982 when my older cousin Amby (Ambassador) had already ruled the Indian roads for three decades. My sleek looks and plush interiors came as a whiff of fresh air among the Indian public, grown tired of  ‘bowler hat’ Amby, cramped Premier and Standard.

For the Indian consumer this was some sort of a great leap forward in terms of  aspiration. Over  the preceding three decades he just had Amby, Premier and Standard to choose from and the car makers literally took him for a ride by introducing new 'models' with changes that were at best cosmetic - most notably the front grille.

The only noteworthy competitor back then was Standard 2000 modeled on Rover SD1 but that was for a short while as it ran into some licensing issues with Rover and faded away by 1987. On the other hand I soon grew more muscle, powered by an 1.8 L Isuzu engine, and acquired a suffix 'Classic' to my name.

The eighties was a smooth ride for me and I soon became some sort of a status symbol. The political and bureaucratic class courted me over my jaded cousin Amby and the nouveau riche, spawned by the liberalising Indian economy, coveted me to show off that they have 'arrived'.

I had become an undisputed king in the 1000 plus cc segment (there were no A, B segments back then) and the diesel version in 1990 only strengthened my grip. 

Meanwhile, Maruti-Suzuki was busy eliminating competition in the small car segment with its Maruti 800. I still vaguely remember the catch line in print ads about me back then 'A limousine that refused to join the rat race' (or words to that effect).  A dig at the Maruti's diminutive offering.

I hit the first speed bump when Maruti 1000 came along in 1990, however since it was overpriced and underpowered, my makers hardly saw it as a concern. But the wily Maruti refused to give up and in 1994 came up with a more powerful and upgraded Esteem and sales graph of my petrol version took a gentle dip.

But even this failed to wake up my engineers and soon we paid dearly as GM, Ford, Fiat, Tata and Hyundai came calling with more contemporary and sleeker models. My arch rival Maruti Esteem soon became the big daddy of the mid size segment, thanks to its first mover advantage and extensive service network.

I got phased out in 2002 owing to stiff competition and my cousin Amby too suffered badly due to it.

However it is heartening to know that I still have a handful of admirers who see me as the first Indian muscle car - reminiscent of the American muscle cars of 1960s and '70s.