Indian Autos blog

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 cover * Soft touch door handle * Diamond cut tail lamp 2011 Ambassador Grand other  [ Read More ]

BurnYourFuel has reported on the 2011 HM Ambassador with brochure scans. The new Amby is BS4 compliant and has a petrol engine under the hood. It does not have any structural or mechanical upgrades. New features are simply accessories bolted on to existing car. The 2011 Amby has a OHC MPFI 1,817cc petrol engine generating 71bhp @ 4800rpm and 13.7kgm @ 2250rpm. It is matted to a 5-speed manual transmission.  [ Read More ]

By Shoeb R Kalania and Shrawan Raja

The ruler of Indian roads once upon a time, the Hindustan Ambassador is slated to bounce back with smart changes in 2011. Hindustan Motors plans to revamp the Amby brand and churn out new variants which it hopes will draw people back into their showrooms.

The task was assigned to Onio Design based in Pune to re-design and add life to the bulky, slow and tired guy.

A conclusion has been reached apparently. The Ambassador is going to be reduced in size by making the boot smaller. By doing so the vehicle can access excise benefits which will help reduce prices by a fair margin. The overall length of the Amby will be under four meters.

The new Ambassador will be actually made to look even older in terms of exterior styling. The design would remind us of the Landmaster/Oxford series 2 (which is a good thing). It will have a dash of chrome and retro styling.

A number of variants with engine options ranging from 1.5 to 2L will be available. Also expect CNG/LPG versions. But please don’t expect an Ambassador with cutting edge technology. The Ambirod by DC Design from Auto Expo 2008 is not going to be replicated.

So what we will get is the same old Amby with refreshed look and feel. It will be interesting to see how HM markets the product. They opened a Facebook page last year to collect feedback. By listening to customers and enthusiasts, HM will hope to bring out something unique that all of us aspire to own. Can HM do a Fiat 500 or a Mini?

Almost everyone in the Automotive industry wants a share of the small car market pie. Soon to enter the fray would be HM. Wait who? HM aka Hindustan Motors; the parent company of the iconic Ambassador.

HM has been under the radar for donkeys years now. But the manufacturer is waking up from its hibernation and has started to hit the tabloids with some very interesting gossip.

After they made breaking news with their Amby revival announcement a while back, latest news is that they are planning to launch a hatchback and is in talks with four or five European vendors for the design, technology and engines for the new car.

HM is also planning to revamp the old Amby by early next year. The new Amby will be smaller than its predecessor in order to attract less excise duty as a result, it will be priced around 5 lakhs. The car will come in 4 new variants for which the company is already gathering feedback on its facebook page.

The company also has plans to double its car dealerships to 140 in two years. Most of the dealerships will be opened in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Hindustan Motors is working on reviving the Ambassador. The vehicle is expected by July 2011 with a fresh design. The platform remains as it is. The bodywork, interiors and characteristics we hear have been thoroughly revamped.

We have no idea on how the end result will turn out to be. SRK set off by looking at the current Ambassador’s design and gradually modernized it part by part.

Much of the work on the new Ambassador has been carried out by overseas specialists. The Ambassador, according to the company will sport “cutting-edge” engineering. HM should work equally hard to preserve the traits of the Amby which is space, comfort and ease of maintenance.

HM has also kicked off an exciting online campaign on Facebook and is receiving feedback from customers and general public which we reckon will serve as the framework for variants and equipment.

Do you think the next gen Ambassador will look similar?

If you have grown up in India in the 80’s or 90’s, (and it really doesn’t matter what sex, income group, location etc. you belong to) you will have your very own memory of the mighty Ambassador. Touted as the Sarkari Babu’s Car, the Amby is one of the greatest icons that have lived in the Indian Auto market.

For our international audiences who don’t know what I am all about; Launched in the 1950s, the Hindustan Motors Ambassador was actually a re-badged Morris Oxford III that took off in India because of astonishingly comfortable ride even on harsh Indian roads.

If the Maruti 800 is considered as the People’s Car of Indian, the Amby was a Statesman’s car. Most of them had a small label saying ‘The Govt of India’ and a tiny siren on the top and were followed by a fleet of policemen on bullets. It is very difficult not to get misty-eyed when you speak of one.

Sure, they were attempts made to bring this icon back from the dead. In 2004, they launched the HM Avigo which was just a face lifted version of the Ambassador. But all these efforts were half hearted and the whole set up ended up as a complete failure.

But last night while surfing of Facebook, I found a tiny ad on the left hand side that said Amby – Come Back. Much to my delight, the Amby was right there.

So apparently the company has opened a facebook account and is collecting a lot of market feedback for a complete overhaul of the Amby in 2011. The company president Mr C. K. Birla did make a lot of promises last month about the new car. He said,

The new Amby will have a retro design and sport cutting-edge engineering to compete on comfort and value for money. Overseas experts have been roped in for the metamorphosis. The new version will be ready by January-February 2011 for test trials and is expected to undergo validation by May so that commercial production can begin next July

We do wish the entire team all the luck in the world!

What are you waiting for? Head over and have a look yourself: http://www.facebook.com/ambycomeback

The new Amby will have a retro design and sport cutting-edge engineering to compete on comfort and value for money. Overseas experts have been roped in for the metamorphosis. The new version will be ready by January-February 2011 for test trials and is expected to undergo validation by May so that commercial production can begin next July. Overseas technology firms are working on each aspect of the car to ensure the vehicle is on a par with contemporary vehicles on Indian roads in terms of built quality and reliability

Hindustan Motors Chairman C K Birla divulges information on the Ambassador revival to Times Of India

We had already reported about French carmaker Peugeot planning to enter India soon. The carmaker is reportedly planning to setup a factory in Andhra Pradesh and is said to be in talks with the Andhra Pradesh government which would be offering lucrative tax exemptions and other fiscal incentives to the Peugeot-Citroen group.

Now we have another development to Peugeot’s Indian story. A tie up between Peugeot and Hindustan Motors is also rumored to take place soon. Hindustan Motors could help Peugeot fasten its Indian entry and HM India could initially manufacture engines for the French company till its sets up its own engine plant (like it did for Ford India).

An anonymous Peugeot official -

PSA Peugeot Citroen can confirm that a project team is working on India as a strategic market. Our team is working actively on the project and has many contacts to build its conclusions.

Peugeot is planning to invest 4100 crore Rupees in phases for its Indian operations. Peugeot could also bring the Citroen brand to India and Citroen badged cars could be positioned slightly above Peugeot so that Peugeot-Citroen can cater to a wide range of customers.

Peugeot is planning to launch a new small car and a compact sedan for developing markets and the company could use India as the production base for all markets, like what Nissan is doing with the Micra hatchback. Peugeot is said to be planning to roll out 1,00,000 cars out of its India plant by 2014.