This car created a stir in the sluggish passenger vehicle market in India, challenging Hindustan Motor’s Ambassador and Premier Padmini during that time.
The Maruti 800 car has completed 40 years today, on December 14, 2023. It is not just an ordinary car; rather, it is an extremely special car that laid the foundation for the growth of India’s automobile industry. The first car of the company, Maruti 800 or M800 model, stands in pristine white at the brand center of Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) headquarters in South Delhi. This car revolutionized the vehicle industry in India.
Launched on this day 40 years ago The Maruti 800 car was first introduced on December 14, 1983, when the Indian market was still under license raj. The M800 model became a witness to economic liberalization in 1991. Known as the common man’s car, the Maruti 800, at that time, created a buzz in India’s slow passenger vehicle market, challenging Hindustan Motor’s Ambassador and Premier Padmini.
First Customer The first customer of the Maruti 800 car was Harpal Singh. Since the delivery of the first unit of this car in 1983, the company produced one lakh units of M800 in 1986-87. Harpal Singh won it in a lucky draw in 1983. At that time, Suzuki’s technology was much better than the available products in the market. The price of this car at launch 40 years ago was INR 47,500.
Production Ceased This Year In the year 1992-93, the production record of Maruti 800 was five lakh units. It doubled to 10 lakh units by 1996-97 and surpassed 15 lakh units in 1999-2000. The production of M800 reached 20 lakh units in 2002-03 and 25 lakh units in 2005-06. The company completely stopped the production of M800 from January 18, 2014. At that time, the cumulative production of M800 was 29.2 lakh units. Earlier, MSI had stopped the sale of Maruti 800 in 13 cities, including Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kanpur, and Pune, from April 2010. The domestic market witnessed the sale of a total of 26.8 lakh units of this model, and 2.4 lakh units were exported.
Reminiscing about many people’s old memories, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R.C. Bhargava had once said that when existing car manufacturers Hindustan Motors and Premier were not even allowed to import technology, a public sector company was established in such a low-priority sector. It was even asked to bring foreign shareholding. Although the production of Maruti 800 has now ceased, it still refreshes the memories of many people.
