The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd set foot in the Indian automotive industry with the Maruti 800. The car went on to become of the iconic brands in the Indian automotive history and also changed the entire market dynamics and the Indian automotive scenario. Now, after being at the forefront for about 3 decades, the company thinks it’s time now to be driven to history. A replacement of the model is expected to be brought out by the industry by December this year.A company official stated about the development that a replacement for the 800cc model makes perfect sense since the design language has become quite old consequently facing low volumes. The company is planning to bring in a completely new replacement for the old model though it will be based on an existing platform. He also added that the existing 2 models of the Alto would continue to be sold since they are commanding a high volume of about 20,000 units per month.
With petrol prices soaring and urban space becoming crowded, the small car segment is surely going to see a massive growth in the years to come. The replacement for the 800cc model will be with Maruti Suzuki’s new design language and expected BSIV compliance. The Maruti 800 had stopped selling in the top 13 cities in India from September 2010, as it could not meet the Bharat Stage IV emissions norms, which were made mandatory in these cities from that date.
Source – Business Line
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