New Delhi: The maker of India’s Ambassador car has suspended production, citing debt and lack of demand for the iconic vehicle which came to define the country’s political class, a company official said Sunday. Hindustan Motors, India’s oldest car maker, shut down its factory on Saturday at Uttarpara in West Bengal state, where it has been making the Ambassador — based on Britain’s long-defunct Morris Oxford — since 1957.
“Work has been suspended indefinitely at the Uttarpara factory. It is being done to ensure the company doesn’t bleed more (money) and to enable us to draw plans for its revival,” the senior official told AFP. The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange in a letter on Saturday, citing “very low productivity, growing indiscipline, critical shortage of funds, lack of demand for its core product... and large accumulation of liabilities”.
The curve-shaped Ambassador, whose design has changed little in nearly 60 years, once ruled India’s roads and for years was the only car driven by politicians and senior government officials, particularly in New Delhi. But the Ambassador, easily the most recognisable car on India’s roads, has been muscled out over the years by the entry of more modern vehicles, which are increasingly being favoured by bureaucrats.
