The compact, unassuming little Maruti 800 has been the “king of the Indian road” since it was born in 1983 — a doubly red letter year for India since that’s also when the country won its only cricket World Cup. But from April 1, when new fuel emissions norms were brought in, you can no longer (legally) buy it in India’s top cities.
Its maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., has decided it won’t upgrade the model to meet the new norms. The car will still sell in smaller cities where tougher emission rules are yet to come in later this year. After that happens, Maruti Suzuki will no longer sell the model at all. So once the current crop of Maruti 800s on the road reaches the end of their life span, you won’t see them zipping around anymore.
That brings to an end the era of India’s own “people’s car,” the desi answer to the Ford Model T or the Volkswagen Beetle. Its manufacturer, originally known as Maruti Udyog, was a joint venture between the Indian government and Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation, and a dream project of Sanjay Gandhi’s, the younger son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Those were the days when India drove only the bulky Ambassador and the Fiat Premier Padmini. But the 800 (actually 796 cc) quickly became the first car for large numbers of India’s new driving classes, including cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar (he now drives a Ferrari), eventually selling about two and half million units.
“The little car set millions of hearts on fire,” Harpal Singh, the first 800 owner, now an octogenarian, told India’s Mid-Day newspaper. “After receiving the keys, I drove to Meerut with my family. The journey took an hour extra as inquisitive onlookers surrounded us wherever we stopped.”
Despite its obituary having been written many times over, the 800 still sells — it sold over 30,000 units in the financial year that ended April 1. Now majority owned by Suzuki and the crown jewel for the Japanese car maker — Maruti Suzuki produces a million cars a year. And it all started with the 800.
So…what’s the new starter car for post-800 India? Is it the Tata Nano? Or something else?
