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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.

click through to read more

Hindustan Motors is pulling up its socks and is starting the new-look operation with gusto. The first launch has been conducted today – VEER – the pickup version of the Amby has been announced for the Kolkata market. The vehicle will join other markets in phases.

IAB readers will not be shocked by this development. We were indeed the first automotive blog to discuss the Amby pickup comeback along with a SRK rendering.

Talking about the vehicle, the 800kg payload pickup is available in BS3 (diesel) and BS4 (CNG fuel) versions. The vehicle can also be ordered as a drive-away chassis (DAC).

The diesel model is priced at 3.30 lakh rupees in Kolkata.

The VEER is a spiritual revival of the HM Porter pickup that was sold in the 80′s. It will compete with the likes of the Tata Ace, Mahindra Maxximo and Ashok Leyland Dost.

We wish HM good luck with the Veer and the other immediate launches.

click through for the press release revealing all the details.

Doing a Yatra seems to be the ‘IN’ thing these with major auto manufacturers sending their cars on a nation wide road trip. Tata Motors did it for the Nano to prove its robustness after the ‘spontaneous fire catching’ debacle, Toyota, in partnership with a media company did it for the Etios, Ford also recently sent a couple of Figos on a pan India journey.

Now another manufacturer is trying some below-the-line marketing activities to increase its brand awareness.

Hindustan Motors has sent an Ambassador and an LCV called Winner for road shows that shall cover West Bengal, Assam, Orissa and Bihar, signaling the imminent launch of new vehicles. The whole idea is to increase customer awareness about Hindustan Motors’ existing and forthcoming products.

The road show anchors and Hindustan Motors managers will make use of quizzes, lucky dips and interesting games to interact with the customers and tell them about HM’s prospective products.

Similar road shows will be launched soon in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, central and north India. Hindustan Motors is on the verge of launching two products – a pickup on the Amby platform and a sub-4 meter Amby.

click Continue to read the press release

When we learnt that Hindustan Motors was working on Pick up truck based on the Ambassador, the earth almost slipped below our feet. Then, we found something in the pages of history that proved HM is quite capable of making this pick up truck. Now, thanks to the folks at Teambhp, we have a spy shot of the HM Ambassador Pick up truck.

From the looks of things, this is a single cab pick up truck with an average size loading bed. The interiors are bare bone utilitarian – simple and basic. The engine options are anyone guess right now – could be a diesel, could be CNG.

HM is has set its heart in diversifying the Ambassador brand name. First, the CS version then the Pick Up version. Of course, the current Ambassador is all set to get a complete revamp in 2012.

What’s next a hot rod version of the Amby?

A member of the popular TheAutomotiveIndia forums spotted the Hindustan Motors Ambassador pickup truck yesterday on the road leading to the ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) in Pune. The vehicle wore black camouflage, was single-cab type fitted with a parcel tray and visited the center possibly to complete homologation formalities. The TAI member unfortunately couldn’t pick up any snaps of the elusive vehicle.

IAB reported last month about this development and the spotting confirms its close proximity to a market introduction. What we didn’t know back then was the existence of the 1980s Hindustan Porter.

The Porter was a diesel pickup truck on the Amby platform that ran for a few years. Due to its lackluster performance, HM pulled it out of the market. We expect HM to keep the design, even if it only a mild cosmetic affair, modern and in line with today’s pickups. Going retro with a pickup truck will not result in sales boosts.

This rendering is not to give you a good laugh because according to our sources, the age-old Ambassador platform will indeed give rise to a single cab pickup. There is a good possibility of this vehicle landing on the marketplace by the year-end as the revival of the Amby is well and truly on. We can’t assure you of a launch date as HM’ style of working is like watching Time Warp on Discovery Channel.

Hindustan Motors will make several variants on the Amby platform including a sub-4 meter vehicle and revamped version of the existing product. There might not be groundbreaking changes under the hood as the existing 1.5-liter diesel engine producing 35bhp is capable of handling the job. There will be no fancy body graphics or silky-smooth finish as this product is meant for the commercial vehicles sector. Components from the existing Amby will be used, in some cases modified to suit the heavy-duty application. Tata Motors, Mahindra and Force Motors have implemented small pickups with their passenger vehicle platforms and that’s where the inspiration came from for HM.

Our beloved HM Ambassador might be the oldest face of automobiles in India, but it isn’t going to stay that way for long. The makeover is already underway for a 2012 reveal, Zigwheels has reported. Interestingly, the new Amby will not merely be a cosmetic overhaul. There will be improvements made to its mechanicals, the [...]

Hindustan Motors has updated the Ambassador for 2011 and our reader Siddharth Shankar sent us images he clicked a couple of days ago at a dealership in Delhi. 2011 Ambassador Grand Exterior Features * Side Indicator with Escutcheon * Rear view mirror * Headlamp with Clear glass * Body color bumper * Full wheel hub [...]