Hindustan Motors Archives - Indiandrives.com

May 26, 2014

End Of The Road For The Ambassador As Hindustan Motors Halts Production

Hindustan Motors said it had suspended work at its facility outside the city of Kolkata, blaming financing issues and weak demand. Modeled on the Morris Oxford, the Ambassador’s design has changed little since it first went into production in the year 1957. It was once the only car driven by government officials and politicians. However the automaker only marketed 2200 Ambassador models in the financial year which ended March 2014.

Hindustan Motors blamed the shutdown on “worsening situations at its Uttarpara facility which include growing indiscipline, very low productivity, large accumulation of liabilities, critical shortage of funds and lack of demand for its core product the Ambassador”. In spite of its dwindling sales, the unique car with its spacious interior and bulbous design has many admirers and was last year named the world’s best taxi by the BBC’s popular Top Gear television show.

The suspension of work will allow the company in restricting restructure and mounting liabilities its finances and organization and bring in a situation conductive to reopening of the facility, the company said. Analysts are not optimistic about the vehicle’s future. Deepesh Rathore from research firm Emerging Markets Automotive Advisors said: “In the present shape I don’t think the Ambassador has got any chances of revival.” “It doesn’t make any business sense, he added”

Struggling with falling sales, HM accumulated losses exceeding its net worth at the end of its financial year ended 30th September, 2013, and the automaker has been looking for investors.

January 13, 2014

Hindustan Motors to launch Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Automatic

At one of the annual general meetings of the company, Hindustan Motors has announced that it will be launching the new Pajero Sport with automatic transmission next fiscal. Early in 2013, India saw the launch of the Pajero Sport as a Completely Built Unit. Just after it had been launched, Hindustan Motors commenced one of its assembly units near Chennai. It is said that the company might soon sell this unit.

In India, the Pajero Sport is expected to be powered by a 2.5-litre diesel engine that is capable of producing maximum power of 178bhp with maximum torque of 400Nm. The car features the Mitsubishi Super Select 4WD system and will come with 5-speed manual transmission. This automatic transmission system is expected to be the “INVECS-II 5-speed automatic with Sportonic.” The Thailand market has the same diesel engine paired with this gearbox. Thailand market is the place from where India got the Pajero Sport’s CKD kits.

Cars like the Evo X, Cedia Sports and Outlander, which were there in the Indian market, have now been discontinued. During the month of July in 2013, Hindustan Motors had launched the Pajero Sport Anniversary edition. The company expects that the gap that has been created in the Indian market after these cars have been discontinued will be filled up by the new Pajero Sport. Although Mitsubishi will be launching the Pajero Sport next fiscal, it also has plans of launching the new Outlander in India by 2014.

September 25, 2013

Check out technical specifications of Hindustan Motors Ambassador Encore BS4 Diesel

Producing only the ‘Traditional Indian Limo’ for our fat politicians since long time, Hindustan Motors too had got that lazy just like them. Snarling at the pace of snail at the present times of Jets and its likes; since after a long tenure the Indian carmaker just now had launched BS4 compliant of Ambassador.

The BS4 complaint Ambassador, which is dubbed as Ambassador Encore, is intentionally meant for the “No Refusal” taxi segment of Kolkata, where those fleets are not allowed to refuse ay customers at any given point of time.

Though, a bold blue strip running across the coach line and a stamp of ‘No Refusal’ on the rear doors of vehicle marks the new segment of taxi in Kolkata.

We guess the given below technical specifications may prove sufficient for the Taxi Unions in the capital of West Bengal to do their jobs blissfully, even at the times of bandh, rallies or even floods.

Launched at a price of INR 4,97,996 (ex-Showroom, Kolkata) for the ‘No Refusal’ taxi segment, BS4 Ambassador Encore prowess a 1.5 liter overhead valve engine has a maximum power of 50 BHP and a peak torque of 112.5 Nm. Meanwhile to make a one more informed, the earlier version used to produce considerably more than the 36 bhp and 73 Nm of torque.

Image Courtesy: TeamBHP

September 2, 2013

Hindustan Motors launches BS4 compliant ‘Ambassador Encore’ diesel for Rs. 4.98 lakh

Stretched the expectation’s tenure to some thin artifact, Hindustan Motors finally launches the Ambassador BS IV complaint for Rs. 4,97,996 (ex-Showroom, Kolkata) and named it as HM Ambassador “Encore”.

The Ambassador Encore is most probably made for the ‘No Refusal’ taxi segment of Kolkata who will not refuse the ride at any point of given time. Whether it may be a bandh or, the streets flooded with rain waters, they cannot refuse even a single customer by any of such excuses.

Hopefully the ‘No Refusal’ segment of taxi will be recognized with the blue-strip on their sides of cabs and the ‘No Refusal’ tagging slapped on the front doors. However, Hindustan Motors will also provide discounts to the customers who will exchange their old cabs for the ‘No Refusal’ tagged new Ambassadors.

Technical specifications are learnt not much to be changed yet, so the ongoing 1.5-liter diesel engine tend to lend nearby figures of existing 35.5bhp and 7.44kgm of torque, which expectedly would be more and improved than the predecessors. The Indian carmaker had also confirmed to have sorted out the smoke issue on the Encore Ambi, we hope the confirmation shall continues with the on-road experiences too.

Commenting his best for the BS IV compliant of Ambassador, Mr. Uttam Bose, Managing Director & CEO, Hindustan Motors Ltd., said, “The company made significant investment in terms of money and man hours to upgrade its BS III 1.5-litre diesel engine to BS IV standards and OBD 2 level. Yet it has chosen not to pass on the expenditure to customers. Through value engineering and cost-efficient manufacturing, HM is able to offer Ambassador Encore at this amazingly low price without any compromise on quality.”

In addition, “New Ambassador is a game-changing offer from HM which has always accorded highest priority to customers’ needs and purchasing power,” feels Mr. Bose on the happening.

August 17, 2013

Hindustan Motors will launch diesel trim of Outlander by early 2014

Mitsubishi has not seen much of a success in India. The sales were so poor that the company stopped selling its sedans in the country. All the sedans were dropped off from its line-up a few months back. The company is now focusing only on SUV’s which is a speedily rising segment in India. Mitsubishi has the Pajero Sport and Montero in its SUV line up in the country. Now it has been revealed that the Outlander will soon join this line up. The company terminated Outlander as there was no diesel variant available. Almost all the manufacturers have diesel versions in their line up as they are very popular in India. But now Mitsubishi will be bringing back the Outlander with the help of its Indian partner, Hindustan Motors.

It has been revealed that the Hindustan motors will bring the Mitsubishi Outlander’s diesel version next year. The Outlander which did not succeed in the Indian market was a 2nd gen model although the company was already selling the 3rd gen model in the other markets. The new Outlander was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2012. This 3rd gen car is bigger in size and is available both as 5-seater as well 7-seater versions. The new Outlander is also offering 2 engine options of petrol and a turbocharged diesel engine.

It is expected that this turbo charged diesel variant will be launched in India by Hindustan Motors. The engine will the same with 2.2 liter fuel capacity offering a maximum power output of 147 bhp and a peak torque of 380 Nm. The car will offer a 6 speed manual as well as automatic transmission. We still do not know about the transmission that the Indian Outlander will offer. The Outlander also has a choice between an all wheel drive system and a 2 wheel drive system. Other than the new diesel engine, the new Outlander will also enjoy some new features.

Another prominent reason that led to the failure of Outlander in the country was its steep pricing. The car was brought into the nation via the CBU route and therefore was priced heavily. There are many other cars offering similar performance but priced more competitively. So it is expected that the company might go for a different route this time to cut down on the costs. With the help of HM, Mitsubishi might assemble the new Outlander through the CKD units. If this happens then the assembly will take place at HM’s manufacturing facility in Tiruvallur around Chennai.

COO of Hindustan Motors, Mr. P Vijayan, while briefing about the company’s future prospects said that “The company is working on the new model of the diesel version and will launch it in early 2014. It will be a more rejuvenated model and will be placed in the UV 4 segment (premium). As Mitsubishi’s partner in India, we want to focus only on the utility vehicle segment and one can see more variants/models of Mitsubishi Pajero and Outlander going forward in India.

The company’s only successful car, Pajero Sport is a off roader and it is expected that the new Outlander will be an equally great soft roader. The company will be focusing on the corporate officials, urban professionals as well as celebrities, with its new Outlander.

July 27, 2013

Ambassador Now Officially Gets Upgraded to BSIV: Hindustan Motors

Recently made to the title of “best taxi in the world” by TopGear, Hindustan Motors now officially landed the BSIV variants too for Ambassador in repertoire for metro customers, who had been deprived of using the BSIII since April 2010.

Will also make debut of some boot trimmed metal (i.e. sub four meter sedan) in the coming years; the HM is expecting more of the sales to be conceived by this Ambassador. As using the 1.5L diesel engine, Ambassador wasn’t able to enter the taxi fleet of metro cities because of aforementioned BSIII reason, but now after passing the painful ARAI test in BSIV, further vision of India based carmaker now looks bright in the broad daylight. Hence, this will also give more hopes to Hindustan Motors in the city of ‘Kolkata’, which the brand had considered as one its largest regional market.

However, the production of BSIV start will from August 2013 in the Uttarpara plant of Hooghly, the deliveries may commence later this year.

“We are happy that our efforts have borne fruit and we have received certification from ARAI after passing rigorous tests. This has demolished the myth that Hindustan Motors cannot upgrade its existing engines,” said Uttam Bose, Managing Director and CEO of HM. “We expect our sales to grow significantly within a few months.”

Apart from just getting upgraded, Amby is also said to be done with more numbers of torque and power, improved gradient negotiating capacity, better cooling, and lastly the enhanced drivability, all that given for the cost of same astonishing fuel-efficiency.

July 17, 2013

Mitsubishi dealership launched in Hisar by Hindustan motors

Hindustan motors, one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the country, has started a Mitsubishi dealership in Haryana in its Hisar district. This will an authorized dealership offering 3S (sales, services and spares) to the customers. The dealership named as M/s Confident Automobile’s Showroom was inaugurated by the head of sales and channel expansion of Hindustan Motor’s Mitsubishi range, Mr. Ashish Kaul. This dealership will offer Mitsubishi’s world renowned sport utility vehicle (SUV), Pajero Sport.

Hindustan Motors Limited as the name suggests is an Indian automobile manufacturer located in West Bengal since 1948. Initially it was headquartered in Gujarat at Port Okha. This company was established in the year 1942 by none other than Mr. B.M. Birla. Until the establishment of Maruti Udyog, HM was India’s largest car manufacturer. HM had developed a joint venture with Mitsubishi in the year 1998. This alliance holds a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu. HM manufactures usually outdated Mitsubishi models after it has been terminated at the company’s other plants.

Mitsubishi Pajero is a sport utility vehicle that was launched by the company in the year 1982. It was called by different names in different markets. In India, it was called the Mitsubishi Montero which means mountain climber. At present, Pajero is in its 4th generation and is sold worldwide except for America. The Pajero Sport was launched in the year 1996 in Japan but it reached India only in 2008. The Indian Pajero Sport is a 2nd generation model. It is equipped with a 2.5 litre DOHC turbo charged diesel engine. It has a maximum output of 175 bhp and a torque of 400 Nm. It offers a mileage of 12 km/litre. It is sold with a price tag of Rs 23.12 lacs.

Since HM has a joint venture with Mitsubishi, it is extending its dealership in India. The showroom inaugurated in Haryana is a step to increase Mitsubishi’s penetration in the Indian market. The M/s Confident Automobile Showroom is owned as well managed by Mr. Abishek Jain. He has a considerable sales and service experience in the Hisar district of Haryana. This showroom has an area of 4500 sq. ft and lies on the Delhi road opposite Vidyut Nagar in Hisar. Apart from this, the dealership also endorses a 6,756 sq ft of servicing area as well a 1000 sq ft of spare parts area on the same premises. This dealership, with its 11 attendants and 7 bays, can manage 15 cars each day. The company has also appointed 8 highly experienced salesmen.

A company official at this inauguration said that “Hisar is fast developing as a counter magnet city to the national capital region. Thanks to a large number of steel units here, Hisar is already known as the steel city in these parts. The city is developing rapidly as a business hub and is attracting more and more professionals and businessmen. It is indeed a pleasure introducing world- class Mitsubishi vehicles to this city. Our latest vehicle, Pajero Sport, will certainly attract the movers and shakers of Hisar.”

May 25, 2013

Hindustan Motors to Launch BS4 Complaint of Ambassador Diesel by June End

We had kept a close tab on the Hindustan Motors for their BS4 complaint of Ambassador diesel and also the new compact sedan that is going to launch by next year or so, which now we have learnt that official sources from industry claiming the BS4 to be rolled out in June-end of 2013.

After waiting quite long to hear these words from the Indian carmaker, we are now finally relieved to get the near-to-perfect confirmation. It is still not yet assured by the authorized officials, but strong possibility fringes in of bespoken launch date.

Though having very least options in the kitty, Hindustan Motors sold a cool amount of vehicles this year which one can see in their sales report.

Launch dates is not so enough for the comeback on launch paddock hence the automaker will also provide newbie with a new name, which will give the brand a fresh yet soothing appeal in times of heated competition.

Till date, Ambassador sedan is used as a Taxi in the state of Kolkata that we had experienced it good enough in fuel efficiency and maintenance cost factors, looking at the bigger space and enough power on inner cleavage.

May 5, 2013

Hindustan Motors Witnessed Growth of 90% in April 2013

Hindustan Motors is our home based carmaker and is doing things since long back, owned by the Ck Birla Group, it too was seen dwindling on some downwards pointing sales figure note, but as of now the organization has claimed a growth of 90% in the April 2013 sales report.

Moreover, the Ambassador tagged carmaker had sold 534 units in April 2013 as compared to 280 units sold in the same period of last year, concluding out to be precise at derivations with 90.71% growth witnessed in the last month. The increment of near to 100 per cent in this April is not such overwhelming when one will see the results of previous months that are stated in the following table below:

[table id=131 /]
*on comparison with the same period of last year

Commenting on achievement, HM’s Managing Director & CEO, Mr. Uttam Bose, said, “Operational excellence, improvement in quality based on customer feedback and foraying into remote markets, which were hitherto untapped, are some of the measures which have contributed to continuous rise in HM’s sales during the past four months. The growth is all the more encouraging as it is happening despite a general downturn in the passenger car segment across the country. We know that challenges like general economic slowdown, high interest rates and low buyer sentiment are quite formidable for the entire automobile industry, especially the passenger car segment. However, Hindustan Motors is all set to introduce its BS IV-compliant Ambassador by June-end.”

That is not the end, Hindustan Motors is also planning to launch a compact Ambassador based sedan in Indian market, which we expect may roll-out until December 2013, helping it to gain some concession in the tax structure of government for making lucrative business in the Rs. 4-5 lakh pricing band. To an extent, we too also speculate another newbie acting as replacement for ongoing Ambassador sedan and that will be a facelift or the cosmetic overlapped version of the present generation bespoken model plate, because we seem the officials and workers of the company may also got tired seeing the same face over a long era of years, where present modernization is touching sky as its limit in every aspect, which for this Indian automotive brand would take a couple of years to happen, hopefully near to 2015 or so, or maybe later on as well, can’t say.

March 19, 2013

Hindustan Motors to Launch Ambassador Hatchback by 2014

Hindustan Motors is more recognized for the Ambassador model plate rather than other offering on in its part. While the Ambassador sedan is same for many of the thronging years and is a due to elapsing movement of time. Though we all love that Indian Limo but almost many of us had been tired by looking that same typo since childhood.

This time Hindustan Motors had taken initiative to make hatchback out of the Ambassador platform which will be delivered in sometime by the end of 2014 or early 2015. We must say that, already an era of hatchback is passed, industry in is in a hurry to wind up soon with those buggies and start fresh with aspiring compact SUV segment. However, we must appreciate the carmaker’s effort of declaring a new commitment in spite of debt ridden balance sheets and other ruckus.

Lest of all, Hindustan Motors had also confirmed the Uttarpara factory of West Bengal for making hatchbacks where at present the Ambassador sedan is being made. By mid of 2013, this Indian carmaker too had planned unveiling of the BS 4 compliant diesel jag.

We managed to gain only this much of information and henceforth there is no other revelation on the upcoming hatchback version of Ambassador sedan. While only the time will tell what Hindustan Motors had stored for us in future!