You have called it skin and bones. You have called it the midget. You have called it the no-frills jantaa vehicle.
But the diminutive Maruti 800 has been the first car for many aspiring car owners in pre-liberalised India, including cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar. At Rs 52,500 in 1983, the M800 was a dream. Call it killer pricing.
But the iconic Maruti 800 that took the Indian automobile market by storm when it was launched a good two-and-a-half decades ago will no longer be available, at least in the 11 major cities, beginning next year. The news has been doing the rounds for some years now, but every time the M800 managed to make a comeback as a serious contender in the small car market. And while keeping up with the emission norms, it had tinkered with its looks to make itself spunkier.
Now, with Euro IV compliant models become a standard in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Surat, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Pune, Agra and Ahmedabad, Maruti Suzuki India has no choice but to phase out both the M800 and the Omni. The company is optimistic about selling these models in other parts of the country till 2015-16.
The announcement has set off a lot of speculation. A Mumbai-based analyst points out that the announcement by the country?s largest passenger car manufacturer and the maker of India?s first mini car is a clear signal that it plans to re-enter the segment with a new product.
?The entry-level or the mini car segment has great potential and the way the industry is moving it is difficult to think of growth or retain a leadership position without being present in the volume segment,? says Abdul Majeed, auto analyst and partner, Price Waterhouse.
The moot question is, will the M800 and the Omni be able to stave off competition over the next five-to-six years? Indeed, the mini car market is likely to get crowded. Besides Tata?s Nano, there?s the upcoming mini car from the General Motors stable, which is expected to be smaller than Spark and in all probability fall in the M800 segment, and an ultra low cost car from the Bajaj-Renault-Nissan alliance slated for launch in 2011.
?Once the competition intensifies in the segment, people may simply move to new products build on brand new technologies that are more viable in today?s environment,? says Vaishali Jajoo, senior research analyst, Angel Broking.
If numbers are anything to go by, these 25-year-old models from Maruti are already losing their charm. The company registered a 29% drop in sales of the Maruti 800 in the last financial year, at 49,383 units as compared to 69,553 units sold in 2007-08. While the figures for the Omni are not available separately, the C-segment, that also includes the Versa, posted a 13.1% dip in 2008-09 at 77,948 units, compared to 89,729 units sold the previous year. This is at a time when Maruti posted overall growth of 1.5% at 7,22,144 units vis-?-vis the 7,11,818 units it sold in the domestic market in 2007-08.
?Maruti is producing these models out of a totally depreciated line and the entire fixed cost related to M800 and Omni have been utilised,? says Rakesh Batra, national leader, automotive practice, Ernst & Young. ?Consequently, the company has the option of playing around with their prices to stay competitive,? he says.
However, Majeed of Price Waterhouse feels that price reduction may be counter-productive in a market where the consumer has a plethora of choice. ?Even if Maruti reduces the prices of M800 to take on the Nano, it may not be enough to attract consumers?they would still not want to drive a car that has 25-year-old technology, style and other features.?
Some milestones
1983-84 Launch of Maruti 800 (SS 80 in Dec ?83)
1985-86 Replacement of SS80 by MB308 in Apr ?86
1994-95 Minor changes, M800 TK introduced
1995-96 M800 DX TK introduced (with AC)
1997-98 Major facelift (Sep ?97)
1998-99 M800 EX variant introduced (Jan ?99)
2000-01 Upgradation of M800 STD all variants
2001-02 Introduction of brake booster
2002-03 Limited edition in Feb ?02 & Aug ?02
2004-05 800 Minor in Jan ?05
2004-05 Scrapping of E1 in Apr ?05 & E2 in May ?05
2004-05 Launched Maruti 800 Duo LPG
