Hindustan Ambassador
On 26 in May 2014 sad news came around the world: Not entirely unexpected came the news that the production of the Hindustan Ambassador stopped after 57 years.
The Hindustan Ambassador is a remnant of the Morris Oxford Series 3, originally conceived by Sir Alec Issigonis. In the first instance, this seemed to be due to a policy that seriously left something to be desired and lack of discipline. However, the reality is that the population there is no longer hungry for such a very old car - which was modernized here and there in the aforementioned period - and has surrendered to other brands. In its heyday some 1955 units rolled out of the factory gates, in the first decade of the new century the counter was stuck at no more than 24.000 units and that number has since (annually) fallen sharply. In 6.000 the counter stopped with only 2013 copies while in that year 2.000 million new cars were sold in India ...
Indian strict regulations meant that between the 1950s and 1970s the Hindustan Ambassador was the only car manufacturer there. The cars were actually delivered only to the government, because Indians who could buy a car themselves could be counted on one hand. The slow-growing economy meant that more and more residents could eventually purchase such a 'Brit'. That meant that an 'Ambi' - as the car is affectionately called - could show the outside world that the driver was doing well financially.
The same regulations in the 1980s that more car manufacturers saw light in the rapidly growing market there. The Maruti 800, for example, a kind of 'super Mini' that was considerably cheaper and more practical than the prestigious Ambassador. An additional disadvantage for the latter vehicle was that the new generation saw the car as a remnant of the British 'domination', whereby India was pushed to waste industrial production lines in Europe.
In addition, it was also true that an Ambassador was too good, so it lasted too long and was easy to repair yourself ... Stricter environmental requirements also prevented such a car from being used as a taxi. Unless converted to LPG or equipped with a modern diesel engine. However, Hindustan managed to let the icon slip through the net. There are plans to put a new 'car' model on the market. That will almost certainly not be a discarded 'European', because people no longer want that in India. They also want to participate in the 'big world'.