G V Joshi
While delivering her speech to a packed auditorium at the launch of the Maruti 800, the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi said, “And it is my desire that this motor car will serve the ordinary people of India and they will have no complaint about it. I hope it will contribute in every aspect of the nation building.”
December 14, 1983 was clearly an emotional moment for Mrs Gandhi. Not only was it, the birth day of her younger son Late Sanjay Gandhi, but it also marked the fulfillment of his dream.
Suzuki Motor Company (SMC) entered the Indian car manufacture picture sheer by chance.
While on a flight from Chennai to Delhi a Japanese director of SMC read an article in the news magazine “India Today” , about the possibility of Daihatsu, (Suzuki’s archrival in Japan), walking away with a collaboration with Maruti Motors for the manufacture of a small car in India. Immediately he alerted his headquarters. The result is now wellknown and a part of history. On October 2, 1982, Maruti and Suzuki signed the dotted line.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) has stoped the production of the iconic Maruti 800 car, pulling down the curtains on a car that has been immensely popular with millions of Indian middle class families.
The last Maruti 800 rolled off the assembly line in Gurgaon on January 18, 2014, and brought to a close a remarkable 30-year-old journey for the nameplate.
In an elaborate ceremony held at the nation’s capital, New Delhi. On 14th December, 1983, the then Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi handed over the keys of the very first Maruti 800 to a beaming Sardar Harpal Singh, a Delhi-based employee of Indian Airlines. He along with his wife drove home their Maruti 800, the first to be sold in India.
Harpal Singh, won the car through a lucky draw, He still owns that white Maruti 800, a testimony to the compact car’s ruggedness and stellar engineering to suit India and its harsh and varied weather conditions.
The original 800 was based on the Suzuki Fronte SS80, but a modernized version using the body of the second generation Alto was introduced in 1986. It went on to conquer Indian roads and become a symbol of mobility much like the Ford Model T did in America and the Volkswagen Beetle in Europe.
However, the present owners need not worry about maintaining their cars. In the words of Shri. C V Raman, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) “Though the car production has stopped, spare parts will be available for customers for the next 8-10 years.”” We have to keep all dies, jigs, tools and moulds for the spare parts requirement. We have to continuously meet the customer requirements. It is our duty to make sure that they get all the parts,” He further added. Maruti 800 is a small city car manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India. Over 2.5 million Maruti 800s have been sold since its launch in 1983. An LPG version of the vehicle was also released in 2008. The same car is being sold in Pakistan by Pak-Suzuki as the Suzuki Mehran.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the name “Maruti” was synonymous with the Maruti 800. It used to be the bestselling car in India until 2004.
It was also exported to a number of countries in South Asia including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and to some South American countries such as Chile. It was available in selected European markets between 1988 and 1992.
The reason for the M800’s popularity was clear. It was cheap to buy and cheap to run. Moreover the little car showed more resilience and spirit than its original designers had ever dreamt of. Bumping along happily on our pot-holed roads, overloaded with people and luggage in the heat of summer without a complaint.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) rolled out its 10 millionth car from its Gurgaon plant, on March 15, 2011 thus joining a select club of global car makers to achieve the feat.
The Maruti 800 began as the late Sanjay Gandhi’s (14 December 1946 – 23 June 1980) dream of making a people’s car for Indians. He had even applied for a license for manufacturing cars, and started a company called Maruti Motors, with land being allotted in Gurgaon, (where the present Maruti still has a manufacturing base).
After Sanjay’s death in a plane crash in 1980, his mother, the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was determined to see that his dream came true.
Mrs. Gandhi sought the services of her relative Arun Nehru, and her son Rajiv Gandhi, for the project. It was Arun Nehru who told Mrs. Gandhi that the project would be possible only if foreign technology was used as part of a joint venture.
Until the appearance of Maruti on the Indian horizon, the market was ruled by a few major players – Hindusthan Motors, with its Ambassador car, and Premier Motors, (Premier Padmini), and the smaller Standard Motors (Standard Herald). This was the choice for the customer, and the waiting time for these cars often ran into several months.
The launch came 14 months after the Indian government and Suzuki Motor Corp. signed an agreement to produce a people’s car.
Priced at around Rs.50, 000 at the time of the launch, the Maruti 800 was a technological marvel compared with the cars then available in India. The technical specifications of the car have remained virtually unchanged since launch, but the tiny 796cc (hence the name Maruti 800) engine hid a big heart. The Maruti 800 was a workhorse, ferrying people and loads through rain and snow, uphill and down.
The Maruti 800 was not just a car. It was a symbol of the upward mobility that the Indian middle class saw, starting in the 1980s, when the process of reforms that reached a tipping point in 1991, really began. Until then, only the rich owned cars.
People discovered the joys of driving, women were liberated by its user-friendly nature and very quickly India was on the move.
The Maruti success story paved the way for a revolution in the Indian motorcar market, and several successful international brands owe their success in India to these pioneers.
Like old soldiers, it seems this road warrior too won’t die, just fade away.
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