[mxx]

So good to see these outdated junk to be out of production.
I never understood why we put up with these manufacturers who sell cars which are decades (half a century in amby's case) past its sell by date.
I can understand nostalgia - so buy one and keep at your home if you love it so much, or build a museum for it, but why do we need it in production?
Funny part is, most of the people who express sadness here would never buy or use an amby.

[The Observer]

I learnt driving on the Ambassador in 1999 through a neighborhood driving school, it was a solid car and in my childhood years, Ambassador was the most sought after taxi for long drives. Sad that HM did not keep up with the times - so though the nostalgia is there but not sad to see it go.

As for the M800 - it was officially my "first" car. A rugged one that served us and our family well - in fact after the Padmini dad bought the 800 twice !! - i am quite sad to see that go but yes all good things come to an end.

As for the Santro, it bought Hyundai to the limelight and many people are still very proud and happy to own a Santro, its petrol engine is still considered as the best produced by Hyundai in India.

On a different note - the factory workers that assemble the Santro will find it the hardest to stop making those, it was one car most Hyundai workers were very proud of - heard this from a friend who works for Hyundai.

[charanreddy]

The Santro, though not a shocker is a brave move. Few car companies would stop production of a model with about 4000 sales every month. GM, Datsun would give their right arm for this kind of sales.

For me it is the Santro that makes me feel a tad sad as it still resonates with buyers. I am not going into safety aspect as 'new' cars like i10, Swift don't have it covered .

[fine69]

The driveability of Santro in city is one thing that would be missed. Before I got myself a Swift diesel ~4 years back, my uncle's Santro used to be the most effortless to drive in the city.

We had an M800 for 15 years and the only good thing about the car was it being small and easy on the pocket.

[aniketi]

I want Hyundai to continue Santro in India as it has the biggest brand value from their stable. It is the car which gave Hyundai its identity in India. Today Hyundai is at number 2 due to Santro only, mainly. It is the car which make people believe in Hyundai. Not sure why Hyundai is not thinking of all new Santro or a major facelift for the car. Look at the Wagon R, it still sells like anything after so many years. Santro has better engine than i10 for me. I am sure new Santro can bring them large volumes just by the name "SANTRO". There are many people who still love Santro more than i10 as i10 has somewhat feminine looks.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by aniketi

I want Hyundai to continue Santro in India as it has the biggest brand value from their stable. It is the car which gave Hyundai its identity in India. Today Hyundai is at number 2 due to Santro only, mainly. It is the car which make people believe in Hyundai. Not sure why Hyundai is not thinking of all new Santro or a major facelift for the car. Look at the Wagon R, it still sells like anything after so many years. Santro has better engine than i10 for me. I am sure new Santro can bring them large volumes just by the name "SANTRO". There are many people who still love Santro more than i10 as i10 has somewhat feminine looks.

Exactly my point though Crazy had different thoughts with regards to the die moulds reaching the end of their life cycle.

I too completely agree with you Aniket that if Wagon R can still sell in excess of 12K MoM, even a refreshed Santro(on the basis of the immense equity it enjoys in India alone) can do atleast 50% of the Wagon R Sales or close to the 6K mark.

It BTW out sold the far more contemporary old i10 since the last 4 months.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by MHG

The Santro had a chiller of an AC (in cool cab form), a passenger friendly suspension .

Hi MHG,
Are you serious??
The worst part about the Santro was it's suspension especially the rear suspension which I would class as one of the most uncomfortable suspensions in a hatchback.
I owned one of the older models (1999) and it was one car which I could not wait to sell. Kept it for just over two years and was happy to see it go.
Spares were also expensive.

Regards,
SS

[amitk26]

So finally the relics of license raj era are gone. These cars are symbol how millions of ordinary consumers can be kept away from better product and industrialists be benefited by artificial restrictions.

I would say good riddance, Specially the 3 Cylinder alto which former a former PMs son bought here and government awarded virtual monopoly to the company till 1998. Today Suzuki has such a strong market presence due to the network they built in the protection era.

Edit : I have owned Maruti 800 and it's still in my signature though sold long back just that
TBHP asks too many columns to be filled while editing profile and I am quite lazy.
However my personal sentiments are no reason to overlook the reality.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

IMHO The Maruti 800 didn't "put India on 4 wheels", just a tiny privileged section. 29lakh cars in a population of 125crores is like literally 0.01% of our population.

While I agree that majority of India is still not on wheels without buses and trains, there is a much higher probability that majority of the families that own a private car now would have started off in a Maruti 800.

29 lakh cars doesn't necessarily mean 29 lakh people. A car puts an entire family on wheels. It means that many families were on wheels - taking a multiplication factor of around 3 or 4 when it comes to the population. Again, most of these cars were sold and re-sold multiple times with most of the buyers becoming a first time car owner after the purchase while sellers upgraded to better cars. So the number of people who would have had Maruti 800 could be probably in the range of 3-4 crores, by a guesstimate.

I know it is still a small number considering our population, but when more than 50% sits below poverty line, even a 2-wheeler that costs 10k cannot literally put India on wheels.

[MHG]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Hi MHG,
Are you serious??
The worst part about the Santro was it's suspension especially the rear suspension which I would class as one of the most uncomfortable suspensions in a hatchback.
I owned one of the older models (1999) and it was one car which I could not wait to sell. Kept it for just over two years and was happy to see it go.
Spares were also expensive.

Regards,
SS

That is strange. The cars I traveled in were reasonably comfortable. I am talking about the Santro Xing (non-frog shape).

[raghu.t.k]

The ambassador does bring some nostalgic memories, more of having travelled in it as a taxi. Even today the previous generation likes the back seat comfort of the Ambassador, compared to few of the mordern cars.

That said, I think the brand was mismanaged by HM. If we compare it with the Royal Enfield, they turned around the demand, and sometime back, there was a waiting list of 6 months for some models. It has also created multiple models all spawned from the single cylinder engine, and most of them share the frame design as well!! Earlier the Govt was the largest buyers of both these vehicles, both the centre and the states. Today one of them closed, while the other re-invented itself into a "cult" inspite of the stiff competition of Jap bikes which are much more faster, powerful and zippy.

[skotha]

Feels nostalgic. Maruti 800 was my first ever car bought in 2003. It has served us well and was in the family until about August 2014.

Easy to use, easy to maintain and it just worked. Never had any major issues inspite of the abuse it was subjected to.

[NYMEX]

Originally Posted by mxx

So good to see these outdated junk to be out of production.

These cars are definitely past their prime but in their days were much sought after. Today technology is tomorrow unwanted, so in the future much of what is discussed with passion today will also be junk.
1. The amby signifies the era when India was a closed economy
2. The Maruti 800 was the start of expansion of the automotive sector
3. The Santro was the beginning of competition to M - 800

[civic-sense]

True that these three were iconic models in the years they ruled. But I don't think anybody is going to miss them in this age. So it is incorrect to call 2014 a watershed year. All three should have been discontinued long ago.

[W.A.G.7]

Although iconic, all three cars had lived much past their prime. In a way it's good that these were laid to rest. If you don't ring out the old, how will your ring in the new?

Nostalgic cars indeed especially the Santro for me; ( I learnt to drive in our Santro ), maybe few years down the line, we may have a Santro restoration thread on team bhp!!