Latest Car News in India

Maruti to stop production of iconic 800, new 800 in the making

It is time to mourn as iconic car Maruti 800 is soon to be put out of production. Reason: it cannot sustain itself to the new pollution norms. But, Maruti won’t let the Maruti 800 name that has earned both name and profits for the company in India to die that easily. As per media reports, new Maruti 800 is on its way for a second innings. Based on the Maruti Alto platform, the new 800 car will have much improved features and a new engine. The new Maruti 800 launch is expected to happen by this year end and the price is believed to be somewhere near Alto.

Maruti 800 that has ruled India for almost three decades now and even after being thrown out of the metros due to the BSIV norms in place, the iconic car still manages to put a decent 2000 units car sales in on the chart. As per the figures Maruti has sold just less than 30 lakh units of 800 since its launch in 1983. That means sales of over 66,000 cars annually each year consistently for 29 years. Equally important is the fact that still Indians demand for Maruti 800 that is the most dependable car for a medium class family. Only some tried to replace it and Tata Nano is the prime contender but it had too failed miserably but by exploring new markets, Nano has reached its dream figure of >10k units. Maruti Alto now holds the title of being the highest selling car in India.

The new Maruti 800 that is in production will be a new car both in design and platform as well as it will have a new engine that will be BSIV compliant. Besides, the engine will be more powerful and is expected to deliver a greater mileage than the existing model. Expected to arrive towards the end of the year, India will miss Maruti 800 for sometime till the new version arrives.