Maruti to stop M 800 sales in major cities from April 2010..

Almost 26 years after it changed personal mobility in this market, India’s first true hatch back Maruti 800 is finally on its way out. The car’s
partial phase-out will start in April 2010 as Maruti Suzuki has no plans to upgrade the old warhorse to meet the new Euro IV emission norms.

“Maruti 800 is not compliant with BS IV norms and we don’t have any intentions of making it complaint with BS IV”, said RC Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki has therefore decided to stop selling the car in 13 major cities from April 2010.

According to government guidelines, beginning April 2010, car makers will be allowed to sell only Euro IV compliant vehicles in the four metros and 9 other cities including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Agra and Surat.

The rest of the country will move from the Euro III to Euro IV norms in 2015-16, so till then the Maruti 800 can be sold throughout India. But since Maruti has decided not to upgrade the M800 beyond Euro III levels, it will have to stop selling the model across the country by 2015-16.

Another important reason not to upgrade the car is its constantly declining sales. Maruti 800 sales are down by 55% in the 10 months ending in January 2010 with the company selling only 27088 cars during the period. But phasing out the Maruti 800 in these 13 cities will mean Maruti will have to offer an affordable alternative to prospective Tata Nano buyers. Phasing out the Maruti 800 will make the Nano almost Rs 2 lakh cheaper than the Alto, Maruti’s second cheapest model.