The history of Maruti Brand is truly a fascinating one. Even it birth was embroiled in a bitter controversy. The project Maruti was late Sanjay Gandhi's pet dream of providing the Indian people the freedom of movement in their automobiles within their budget. But its birth was uncertain and the late leader simply could not achieve it. The Indian automobile scene saw the dominance of Hindustan Motors in the car segment , Tata Motors , Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Leyland in the heavy vehicles and passenger segments. Hindustan Motor's most popular model 'Ambassador' ruled the roads and the car-loving people had very restricted choice. Then came in the picture Japanese Auto giant Suzuki which took a vital stake in the company. With its world famous technology the first model Maruti 800 rolled out of the Maruti stable. This small beauty heralded a veritable revolution in the country. The car price was imaginatively put at Rs. 40,000 and Mr. Harpal Singh became the proud owner of the first Maruti 800. And a craze developed to own this car resulting in a long waiting list.
The emergence of Maruti in the automobile map is a watershed event in the sense that for the first time Indian people had a taste of what liberalization could bring about. Today we have innumberable models of some biggest names in the automobile world and our domestic automobile players too have launched various successful models like Mahindra Scorpio, Tata Indica. But Maruti Udyog's superiority could be attributed to its vast dealership network and Maruti service station. Ever since the success of its Maruti 800 model, it has launched models one after another with great success like Maruti Swift, Wagoner r, Versa, Gypsy etc. But its association with Maruti 800 stands at a different plane altogether. This model has notched up a sale figure of more than 2.5 million. In this maiden moden Maruti introduced features like electronic ignition, synchromesh and floor shift gears for the first time.
But the sad news is that Maruti Udyog limited is preparing itself to say 'sayonara' to Maruti 800. The Euro-IV emission standards which are coming into effect in 2015 is compelling the company not to go for upgradation for this popular model. From 1st April this year this model would be withdrawn from twelve cities of India. Thus let prepare ourselves to say good-bye to the queen -Maruti 800!