Amby turns golden now

As more and more cars are fading into oblivion to make way for new models, Ambassador, the oldest automobile brand in India, is moving into its golden jubilee year of production.

A limited edition 'Golden Amby' model, will be launched by Hindustan Motors to commemorate the car's golden jubilee year.

The special edition will don a new ceremonial colour and will feature new upholstery and fittings, but obviously, will retain its bulky lines, along with the legendary "bench seat" at the front.

The Ambassador is the first car to be manufactured in India in 1957 at Uttarpara in Kolkata. Lovingly called the Amby, in its 50 years of existence, it has seen the Licence Raj, Permit Raj, Babu Raj.

Its fundamental shape has remained virtually unchanged, from its Morris Oxford days, which was originally launched in India as completely built units imported from the United Kingdom in 1944. In these five decades, the Ambassador has been through minor modifications and upgrades, proudly called Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, etc.

The most significant facelift that the Ambassador endured is the Avigo version in 2004, which made it look slightly bizarre, without losing its familiar rounded shape.

Probably one of the last of industrial specimens of the 1950s still plodding along, the car has an ardent fan following, which includes Pt. Ravi Shankar, R K Laxman, Mark Tully, designer Manish Malhotra and actor-turned-MP, Govinda.

While the car is not making any headway on the commercial front, it is a perennial feature of politicians' and bureaucrats' cavalcade.

Other than the government, taxi operators love the Amby for its low running costs, ease of repair and enormous amount of space, while foreign tourists specifically ask for it to live up the real Indian experience.

Despite the onslaught of the latest generation cars in India, the Ambassador has been steadily managing a sales average of 13,000 units annually over the last five years.

Says Soni Shrivastav, spokesperson for HM, "Its demand has stabilised in the market for the past five years. Our sales feedback show that a majority of foreign tourists prefer to travel in Amby, while the government is also falling back on it."

Of course, this is a far cry from the heady days in the 1970s when Hindustan Motors used to sell 30,000 units a year. Still, small numbers of the Amby still make it to countries as diverse as Brazil, Malaysia, Israel, Japan, Sri Lanka and the UK.

The nostalgic British especially taken a liking for it, thanks to the efforts of Karma Kars, one of London's most pricey car-hire companies.

Karma Kars have a fleet of Ambassadors, completely done up with an ethnic Indian touch, which has ferried celebrities like The Rolling Stones, John Malkovich, Kate Moss, Jude Law and the cast of Coronation Street.

Taking a leaf of Karma Kars' book, HM is planning to position it as a tourist attraction by itself and the company is negotiating with various tourism departments to make it into specialised tourist cars.

Despite the launch of a golden anniversary version, the Ambassador is not expected to show any major increase in sales.

Pradeep Saxena, vice-president, TNS Automotive Research, says, "The Amby could never become a market leader even in a closed economy and hardly has a chance now. It could never capitalise on its huge market potential in smaller towns and rural markets. The car fails on poor fuel economy, old styling, poor manoeuvrability and its branding as a government car. Though it still commands a respect for its reliability and sturdy performance, the Amby remains confined to the retro segment."

However, the company does not have any plans to change the car's design and shape in the near future. It will continue to remain the same model, though technological upgradations will follow.