The End of an Era

Lets first go to 1984. The real transformation of Indian Automobile industry. When the consumers had no choice other than the Ambassadors and Premier Padminis, Maruti with Suzuki brought in the legendary M800. With a 796cc, naturally aspirated petrol engine, M800 was the King of Indian roads till its sibling Alto took the throne in 2004. Even then it was just the second most selling car.

Then came in the emission norms. The company, after looking at the cost involved in upgrading the engines to meet the Euro IV norms, decided to axe the car in a phased manner. Its first happening in 13 cities.

In less than 5 years M800 would be history.

Though no big changes were made in 26 years, the car always underwent minor face-lifts and technical upgrades like factory fitted LPG/CNG kits to sustain its Numero Uno status. Its the M800 that comes into the mind first when one thinks of Maruti.

How did this happen?

Initially there was no huge competition in this segment. The customers actually had no choice. But as the market evolved, to stay in the race, Maruti kept updating the car. As the industry grew, the product also grew. The product never entered the maturity stage. Though there were bigger and more efficient offerings in the market, none were able to take M800 head on. This was actually because of the reliability the product had shown over time. This translated into Maruti's other products and the result is a whooping 50% market share. This product again demostrated the power of the product P ahead of the other Ps in automobile industry.

The only possible successor to this throne is the Nano. Lets see, if it can become the next Darling of the Masses. Time will tell.