Pratik Bharti,
INVC,
It was a Saturday and 52-year-old Subhash Paul was at home when he heard that the factory where he worked for 32 years is now shut. The cycle that he had been using for almost three decades to come to work was lying outside. He grabbed it and rushed to the gate where hundreds of workers were already milling about, confused and angry. The notice of work suspension was slapped on the gate with an old rusty lock confirming his worst fears.
At 10:31 AM, the announcement appeared on the Bombay Stock Exchange website that India’s oldest integrated automobile plant will remain closed till further notice. Ambassador, the immutable icon of the Indian roads was on its last journey.
The decline of Ambassador that prided itself as the country’s first family car, modelled on the classic British Morris Oxford, was quick, from being a symbol of power and status to a bulky, fuel guzzler awkwardly waddling its way on the Indian roads.
The first big competition came from the sleek and half swadeshi Maruti 800 in the 1980s and then its dominance was fast eroded with the advent of foreign brands with bigger, better and more affordable models.
The sales dropped at an alarming pace. While Maruti continued to reinvent itself by continuing to top the sales charts and phasing out models which were deemed old and redundant, Ambassador remained a relic of the past with the whiff of nostalgia that had lost relevance among young and aspirational Indians.
From 24,000 cars in its heydays in the 1980 the production dropped to a meagre 2,343 cars in 2013 which meant that the 2600 workers employed at the Uttarpara factory produced less than one car a year, far below the industry average.
The workers blame the management for the lack of foresight and the ability to reinvent to stay afloat. Its bulky build, outdated engine, and babu look inspite of its famed comfort and toughness drove the Amby out of competition.
