Team-BHP - Maruti Omni production to end due to upcoming safety norms

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4484949)

And do you think those school children are magically going to be transferred to an Innova Crysta with 7 airbags after the Omni's demise? NO. It's a matter of budget and when you are strapped for cash, safety is relative to your other options. Example = an Omni is safer than a rickshaw which is in turn safer than a scooter.

Let's stop seeing the world through our rose-tinted glasses.

Very true!

Somehow reminds me of what happened when Nano was launched and it continued even when I bought a Nano as well. People criticized it for being cheap while the alternative was a 3 or 2 wheeler.

The alternatives from a new car perspective was none considering the price range - (Relatively it was way cheaper than M800 during its time) This is one reason we see a lot of Nanos in places with limited connectivity like hill stations etc, any day a four wheeler was a lot safer than 3 or 2.

In my case I did not use anything apart from a bus to reach office for the first 7 years of my work life although I owned a car, it was given to my wife to go to work. I never had a 2 wheeler due to safety concerns, my time is cheap (relatively). So when it was time for me to buy a car, Nano was the most affordable and certainly a lot safer than the alternative being a two wheeler.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kosfactor (Post 4485242)

Omni`s absence will be filled by less well engineered alternatives I fear, it is true that there are safer alternatives for Omni but none at its price point that can carry upto 8 passengers and is as good a passenger vehicle (relatively) as it is a commercial vehicle (relatively).

@BoneCollector - The Omni Mk1 is the best driving Omni of them all, yes the brakes were poor, but for its time, good enough. The later models somehow felt a lot cheaper, had lot more vibrations and drive line noise.

OT : Nano GenX model has much better brakes although its drum all around. It comes with brake booster and traction A rated tires as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tapish (Post 4484787)

That is because Arun you can afford to be without a car. There are millions in India who don't have an alternative. There are Vikrams plying as shared autos in NCR, leave aside the rest of the country and so many people rely on them to get to work on time. Its easy for us privileged lot to say that ban Vikram, ban rickshaw & ban Omni because we can afford the cars with required safety. Even if the government bans them, the people will not be able to afford the higher alternative and settle with something even more unsafe.

Oh yes- we can't ban them, and I agree. But calling out the Omni for what it was- a cash cow for Maruti Suzuki, which was built with no heed to occupant safety, is nothing wrong

Omni is not even sold in metros since 4-5 years AFAIK, but somehow my neighbour managed to buy one 3 years ago!

My earliest memory was that in my childhood(90's kid), my dad took the family (4 of us) in the car for a North Karnataka trip and right after returning we went to a water park near Bannerghatta park (it was called Blue Waters or Crazy Waters IIRC, dunno).

Even back then I remember being under the notion that Omni was very likely to topple post 70kmph!

Good that they were discontinued. This car, IMHO was indicative of a 3rd world country that India was upto early 1990s.

P.S.: I guess even Tata Iris & Mahindra box-car will be discontinued then. Maybe even Tata Winger will stop. What about Bajaj Qute?

When we were growing up in the 1980s, people used to be amazed at how 25 year old car models like the Ambassador and Padmini were still sold in India. It was attributed to a closed economy with limited purchasing power. When the 800 and Omni were first launched, they came as a breath of fresh air - arguably, it was the first sign of India being transformed from a dirigiste autarchy into a more economically liberal nation. Hence the fact that Omni survived for 36 years in a world where every major globa car manufacturer competes in India suggests that it certainly met an unmet need in India. I first drove an Omni back in the late 1990s - a group of friends who lived in a chummery on my way home from work were given that car by their company - and as the only one who knew driving, I was often volunteered into accompanying them. The car felt dangerous even compared to my parents’ 800 and 118 NE. But it’s high power to weight, and narrow turning radius offered something - which is why it was the most popular car in all Indian hill stations. Personally, I think Maruti should have scrapped it years ago - the continuance of the Omni reflects that utter lack of safety consciousness in that company which is proven by how it takes out safety gear from cars it sells elsewhere like the Swift and Baleno, and maintains a single minded focus on preserving its truly unreal profit margins. But I do get the perspective of those who say “it is better than an auto rickshaw.” At any rate, this has to be seen as an iconic Indian car.

Year 2050*. Conversation between me and my 21-year old grand daughter.

My grand child expresses shock and utter disappointment that I was irresponsible enough to be driving in 2018 on Indian roads which had achieved global notoriety for accidents and fatalities. In 2050 if a fatalities on a highway reach more than 1 in 1,000,000 a year the road is closed for inspection. She is aghast I drove on highways in a Volvo with no A.I. or the ability to lift itself 6-metres in the air, instantaneously, to avoid an accident. The child exclaims, "What you took granny along on the death trap Indian highways in a car without autonomous driving computer and no accident prevention laser-radar and without Google's accident prevention satellite real time warning or even a super carbon fibre body cage!!?!! Very bad of you Dada. Very bad. Didn't you have any notion of safety in those days. What do you mean you didn't even use Google maps. How on earth did you ever get around. And why the hell did you drive with the windows rolled down??

<return back to 2018>

Guys, in 1983-84 the Omni was the answer to a lot of our motor needs given its small foot print + maximum volume + low cost design. That assumption still holds water in semi-urban and rural India. The safety awareness we have today comes from the overall improvement in safety awareness in society driven by NCAP and forums such as T-BHP and not because the people back then were fools or we today are superior. An NCAP product in 1983 was not affordable. Period. NCAP in USA was formed only as recently as 1979, the year I learnt to drive, and got full acceptance only a decade later. Euro NCAP, which really took NCAP to its present world wide acceptance, only came in 1997. Seat belts in Delhi & Mumbai came I think in 2002. Even NCAP introduced rear impact testing [and whiplash] only in 2009 and pedestrian safety in the current decade.

For the economic segments of Indian society that the Omni serves the choice is between the Omni and modes of transport that are far worse. So let's get off our pedestals. The old hack has run its time. Regulations have changed and time to welcome the new.

*Fictitious. The God Lord may send my visa long before then

Wow. I have so many memories in the 96' Omni we had. More memories only because it was during my prime time teenage years and also because of the immense practicality of the car. You could use the car in so many ways unmentionable in a public forum! :D:

I still remember me driving to a gravel road in the early mornings and doing power drifts in the Omni. The cheapest fun to drive RWD car!

For all those who feel sad about the school children who ride on unsafe Omnis, will now be even more unsafe in Autos. :Frustrati . It's not like the is Omni much more is safer everywhere and only in India Maruti is fleecing us.

Let's appreciate the vehicle for what it is.

Think omni as a 4 wheeled 2 wheeler. It atleast has a roof to protect from elements, has self balancing 4 wheels. That's far safer than a 125/150 cc 2 wheeler carrying mom dad and 2 kids, bonus, you don't need helmets legally to drive it. Cost cheaper than few 2 wheeler sold in india, heck lot cheaper than any 800cc 2 wheeler sold in india, does it make sense now? Before I am flamed, i am not protesting it's discontinuation, i am just protesting the flak it is receiving. Yes I do still own one, it's a 2017 vintage. Good bye friend, you served well. We cannot ask anything more of you.