Bidding adieu to a ‘revolution’ : Off the beaten track
- Sangai Express Editorial :: February 27, 2014 -

These are interesting times.

The Assembly is in session and the demand put up by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee has already been discussed on the august floor of the House,
the Joint Secretary in the Union Home Affairs (North East-in-charge), Mr Shambhu Singh has already gone on record and stated that a high level committee will be constituted soon to discuss the Alternative Arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur, outside the Government of Manipur, pending a final settlement to the ongoing political dialogue between the IM group of the NSCN and the Government of India, put up by the UNC,
Mr O Joy Singh, a man who was synonymous with the MPP has quit the party just when the Lok Sabha election is round the corner,
assurance has been given that a Passport office will be opened in Manipur soon
but for once The Sangai Express will go off the beaten track and take a look at something which is far removed from all these interesting developments that have emerged lately.

Chassis number 2890893 with registration number ML-05-K-2666.

Not mere numbers, for this is the last Maruti 800 car to roll out from the Gurgaon plant of Maruti Suzuki , the largest car manufacturer in the country today.

An end of a revolution, sans the guns and the street protests.

The first hatchback to hit the market in the country in the mid 80s, the Maruti 800 went on to give a new definition to giving the customer a product worth its money, as far as cars go.

Strategically priced, it opened up a whole new world in car manufacturing in India and customers no longer had to wait for months or even years to get hold of the Ambassador or the Premier Padmini or its earlier avatar the Premier President or simply the Fiat car (while it was a joint venture between auto giant Fiat of Italy and Padmini of India), which more often than not had the propensity to break down the day after it rolled out from the show room !

A game changer it was, setting the benchmark of a car in India and it was with a feeling of nostalgia and fondness that a large number of middle class families across the country must have bade the small, hatchback but extremely reliable care an adieu.

This does not mean that the Maruti 800 will disappear from the roads, especially from the roads of the smaller cities altogether, but in deciding to bury the 800, Maruti Suzuki has in a way buried an important part of history, a history in the car manufacturing industries.

A decision which may have been prompted by the changing dynamics in the automobile industry.

What makes the Maruti 800 all that more remarkable is the point that it hit the Indian car market much before the economy opened up and India was still stuck with the Nehruvian concept of a protective economy, which today is being referred to as the age of the license raj.

The only constant in life is change and the Maruti 800 was the change in the car manufacturing industry, setting new benchmark and giving the customers value for their money.

Today India is one of the largest car manufacturing countries in the world, with numerous other companies making inroads.

Mahindra and Mahindra, which was there along with the Padmini and Ambassador has undergone a sea change with its path breaking Bolero followed by the Scorpio and others.

The Tata company has moved beyond producing the heavy vehicle and has today come out with the cheapest car in the world with the Nano and a number of other models at the middle and top segment.

Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Fiat, Chevrolet you name it, and India is today the destiny of numerous major car makers in the world and it would not be overstating in saying that it was the Maruti 800 which went a long way in opening the door.

The honeymoon is over but the memories will linger.