Hindustan Times has reported that Hindustan Motors is currently developing the sub-4m version of the Ambassador that may finally launch in early 2014.
Initial test mules of the compact Ambassador were spotted testing in 2010. Pune-based Onix studios were rumored to be design consultants to HM for the program. Past the initial euphoria, we’ve not seen even traces of this variant on media reports or testing on public roads.
The long forgotten name ‘Hindustan Motors’ has finally started to shake things up in Indian auto sector.
The Indian auto maker is in-talks with various car makers from Europe to utilize their surplus capacity at the Chennai plant.
Hindustan Motors’ Chennai plant was recently re-structured by the C.K. Birla company as a standalone subsidiary to make it more flexible and profitable in the future. All the decision pertaining to the newly formed business need not get stuck in bureaucracies of Hindustan Motors.
Hindustan Motors, despite being an Indian company, may not be as popular as say Maruti Suzuki, Ford or Nissan. But the fact is that this dinosaur of yesteryear can be credited for introducing India to four wheels.
The HM Ambassador, a re-designed Morris Oxford, was one of the first cars that became a part of India’s landscape.
The boys at BigDaddyCustoms are on the front page again, impressing us with yet another custom creation.
After presenting replicas of a Ford Mustang Eleanor and a Range Rover Evoque, the talented chaps have brought forward a Chevrolet Camaro replica based on the ‘Indian Muscle Car.’
Once a status symbol and the official ‘Mantriji vehicle’, the HM Ambassador is slowly crawling to its grave.
This icon, despite the Indian auto market growing, is seeing sales fall steeply. With only 2,500 units sold in the year 2011, the situation has reached a point of crisis with sales currently hovering around the 400 unit mark for 2012, according to a report on BSMotoring.com.
India’s very own West Coast Customs, DC Design, is back on our front page for two creations that India will love. The first creation is a makeover to the interior of the Mahindra XUV500.
The forward section of the cabin has not changed much with a caramel color scheme consistently spread across the seats and dashboard.
Hindustan Motors through a press release revealed that they are developing a passenger application on the Winner platform and our friends at IndianCarsBikes.in have snapped the first mule in Pune. Fitted with a 1.8-liter CNG engine, the load carrier makes 35.5 Bhp of power and 73 Nm of torque.
This engine will be carried over on to the passenger application to pit it against the Tata Venture and Mahindra Maxximo minivan. After the soft top is on the market, we would like to see HM execute a steel bodied van with leather seats, entertainment system and air conditioning.
For decades the Indian Government was the sole source of assurance for sales of Ambys was the government. All senior and junior politicians were ferried around in the white Ambassador cars.
The good old Ambys are now being replaced by SX4, Accent and Superb. They are modern, offer better comfort and come with more prestige. They are sophisticated and make a statement. HM is being deserted, but it plans to make a comeback with two new products.
IndianAutosBlog.com has just learned that HM is planning to introduce the sub-4 meter variant in the next 6 months.
The comfortable and spacious interiors, retro looks (read details here) paired with a common-rail diesel engine will bring the Amby on par with some of its advanced classmates. A Pune based design studio is tasked with inserting a sense of style into the Ambassador’s primitive layouts.
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