![]() | #61 | ||
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 457
Thanked: 380 Times
| ![]() That's quite an achievement for Premier. Apart from sinking itself, scarred 2 international automotive giants for life! ![]() Quote:
Quote:
| ||
![]() |
|
![]() | #62 | |
BHPian Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: London
Posts: 118
Thanked: 536 Times
| ![]() Quote:
Their main reputation is for building practical and tough diesel estate cars with huge load space and fun small hatchbacks, particularly good sports / hot hatch models. They will be remembered as the first manufacturer to bring a hatchback based folding hard top convertible to the affordable mass market with the Peugeot 206 Cabriolet. The Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi is probably the greatest 'hot hatch' ever built. They have not really broken much ground in recent years though, Ford really caught them napping with the 1.0 Ecoboost | |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #63 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: May 2016 Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 197
Thanked: 259 Times
| ![]() Glad to share that our Law Firm advised HML in the transaction! |
![]() |
![]() | #64 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: MUMBAIBANGALORE
Posts: 1,321
Thanked: 1,741 Times
| ![]() "CITY CITY BANG BANG - Rebirth of Ambassador" SANTOSH DESAI, Feb 19 2017 : The Times of India (Kolkata) The selling of the Ambassador brand to Peugeot is an eyebrow raiser. Why would anyone want to revive a car that is deservedly dead and in the minds of many , took far too long in its death sequence a la a Hindi film hero in the 70s? Clearly , Peugeot has no interest in the car in its physical form; what it is buying is the idea of the Ambassador, and the meaning that it can give it in today's context. There is something about the Ambassador that lends itself to nostalgic affection. Unlike the more `sensible' Fiat which offered a timid version of the modern, and hence stops short of evoking an era and a culture, the Ambassador's relation with the modern was frosty . It remained steadfastly true to its own sensibilities, largely because it refused to change or perhaps lacked the capability to do so. Barring minor modifications that were universally mocked at for their transparent lack of ambition, the Ambassador stood its ground for a long time. Eventually , it did change its engine, but it was too late. Its time was over once the hot plastic era of the Maruti made its appearance. In its time, the Ambassador reigned supreme.Its lines were inspired by a matron's commodious petticoats and its interiors had the comfortable well-worn shabbiness of the Indian drawing room. The gears shifted with a grunt and the car began its journey with a groan. It drove one with the laconic recalcitrance of the father while offering you the familiar comfort of a mother's lap. One sprawled inside the car when not carrying one's entire brood of third cousins and their family friends to the railway station to receive or to see someone off in the dead of night. The car was large, solid and rounded; nothing about its design acknowledged that it was an object designed to move.Indeed it seemed to actively shun any association with aerodynamics. The Ambassador squatted on the ground, embracing its own centre of gravity . It was a car that clearly believed that it was better to waddle than to race and moved with stolid disregard for one's surroundings or one's intent. The Ambassador was status quo on wheels, a car that allowed one to stand still even as one moved and to do so with one's entire way of life intact. It pointed nowhere and took us nowhere, which was where we wanted to be. The Ambassador was equanimity in a world where abruptness was the norm. Traffic on Indian roads might have been slow, but it was sudden. Roads disappeared from under feet, cows changed their minds about moving, buses decided to come tearing down the wrong side for a closer look and pedestrians stopped in the middle of the road to scratch themselves meditatively . The car itself was a constant source of uncertaintyit stalled, leaked oil, the brake fluid ran out at odd times; of course, it could also be repaired anywhere by virtually any mechanic and so life chugged along. The ability to accommodate anything -people, merchandise, circumstances, recurring dents and scrapes, breakdowns -without showing any sign of strain made the car a natural in the Indian context. At the surface level, the Ambassador might offer an easy route to marketable nostalgia, particularly in the West. It is a quirky riposte to the modern, and works at the level of an ironic joke. But this is the kind of appeal that works fast and dissipates even faster. However, there is something more substantial about the idea of the Ambassador, apart from its incongruous looks. The idea of the Ambassador potentially holds allure today because it tells us that it is possible to completely disregard context. It exposes the fuss that cars make about moving from point A to point B as being unnecessary . Neither motion nor the car as an object of desire are fetishised. According to the Ambassador, one can be a placid cow, chewing cud while the world goes on around it, spinning out of control. The individual finds no reflection in the car, the fluidity of time and fashion mean nothing to it. It restores to the car the idea of affectionate and comfortable warmth; it feels like home should. Equanimity is the ornament of those that understand time. One doesn't have to hurry , the world doesn't need to be about oneself, one is secure in the knowledge that current events will pass however unlikely it seems today . When one is home, the world outside holds few terrors, at least for the time being. And while this idea has been born out of India and its realities, today it is unlikely that this idea will find much resonance in India for as a country , we have traded placid wisdom for prickly ambition. Even if Peugeot were to re-present the Ambassador in an acceptably contemporary form, the country today wants to see a more desirable face in the mirror. The individual wants to see himself and his future in the car he drives.The idea of the Ambassador becomes in effect a return to an earlier era, and there is little appetite for that today . Globally , on the other hand, it might be another story . The brand's attractiveness to a company like Peugeot lies in the fact that the Ambassador is above all, a brand. It stands for an idea that is located in aculture, and it signifies a belief in some values. It has a design ethos, and a point of view about mobility and indeed, about the world we live in today . It is unlikely to offer the opportunity to build a huge global brand, but there is a truth that it speaks that could potentially create value for the French company . Shorn of the shoddy product that carried this name, it might just be that the underlying idea of the Ambassador has relevance today . http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...19022017004015 |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #65 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 36
Thanked: 34 Times
| ![]() Hi Folks, The KING or the Veteran is gonna be back in the Indian Automobile Industry.. Ambassador car is all set to make a grand come back in the Automobile Industry Source: Link Cheers!! AutoAficionado Mods: Please move/merge if there is a thread already for the above. |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #66 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Pune
Posts: 539
Thanked: 878 Times
| ![]() Sadly not the car - just the name Quote:
| |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #67 |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() The new car will have to bank on the brand equity created by the tough and very Indian Ambassador and its ruggedness and brute appeal. The brand name is synonymous with the word "car" in our mindsets since childhood. This car has virtually ruled our roads from 1958 till 2000. Competition came along and the brand faded. The stodginess of HM in renewing its appeal with contemporary goodies vis-a-vis the competition, virtually killed it. In the last years the sales @400 - 500 units per month were unable to sustain production. The Kolkata/ Chennai and a few other taxi markets and a few govt buyers remained faithful till the end. The Ambassador DNA and USP retention is very essential for the car makers HM- PSA to target the old Ambassador fans, many of whom still swear by this car. Last edited by anjan_c2007 : 1st June 2018 at 23:19. |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #68 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,520
Thanked: 2,551 Times
| ![]() My view is that Peugeot and HM have tried to do something for the account books by having a deal of 80CR for the Brand name of Ambassador. I do not think Peugeot is actually going to launch any car by that name. Rather it must have been some account book exercise which may have saved a few crores for both the companies in their books. |
![]() | ![]() |
|
![]() | #69 |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #70 | |
BHPian Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 61
Thanked: 225 Times
| ![]() https://auto.ndtv.com/news/ambassado...from=home-auto Quote:
While I believe PSA Peugeot-Citroen will only keep the brand name "Ambassador" so that they get a platform to start with, since the name resonates with Indian market. | |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #71 | |||
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() Ambassador to return - Citroen is in full charge! Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
![]() ![]() Link | |||
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #72 |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: HR 51/HR 29
Posts: 1,176
Thanked: 5,639 Times
| ![]() Why in God’s name will anyone buy this awful love child of the Ambassador and the Indigo Manza in a world that has the Verna, City and Ciaz? It is as if these European brands are trying to fail in the market. You are a new brand trying to launch in a cutthroat segment of a market that operates on perception and image. You put your best foot forward, bring out your good products and try to better the existing. Like what Kia is doing. How stereotypically emotional and sentimental do they think we Indians are? We buy when we see value, not nostalgia. |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #73 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Dubai
Posts: 298
Thanked: 1,146 Times
| ![]() Came across this article from Overdrive magazine. They don't actually mention any statements from any sources though, so not sure if it's a clickbait! http://overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/e...may-look-like/ Quote:
| |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #74 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: May 2019 Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 75
Thanked: 238 Times
| ![]() It seems more like a wish/advice from Overdrive, not even a speculation. IMHO, Citroen should start with a clean slate rather than bringing in the baggage of either Ambassador or Peugeot. |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | #75 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() While the article seems speculation. I do not think that the Ambassadors were liked for it's style attributes. Ambassadors appealed for its space, robustness, reliability (because it was easily repairable everywhere) and the most important criteria, the affordable (for its time) pricetag. It represented tremendous value. Today, Ambassadors shoes are filled by the Bolero and is doing a fabulous job at it. |
![]() | ![]() |