New Ambassador to be Priced around Rs.4 lakh, Launch by 2013-14

We reported earlier that Hindustan Motors is working on a compact car based on the iconic Ambassador platform. HM, the country's first automobile manufacturer has been going through a very tough times. When the other carmakers are selling their vehicles in bulk, HM fell behind, unable to cope up with the competition. Now, in the middle of very bad market, the homegrown auto-major aims to revive its lost glory.

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To raise the sales of its signature product, the iconic Ambassador, the company is planning to launch a smaller variant of the car by December 2013. The firm wants to make most of the benefits from the lower excise duty on smaller cars, and plan to position the car in a segment to enjoy substantially lower excise duty than the established rate on the current range of Ambassador vehicles. Sources said that the prototype of this car is ready and would use the Ambassador platform. The car would be smaller in size, the company might strip the boot and will make it a mid-segment car.

HM Managing Director Uttam Bose said that the variant of the Ambassador would be ready by the third quarter of next fiscal, and would be in the market by March 2014. However, he declined to reveal much information on the vehicle. The new Ambassador now avails an excise duty that lies between 24 per cent and 27 per cent. The company aims is to positioned this vehicle such that it would come within the 12 per cent excise duty bracket. The company is trying hard to price new variant of Ambassador around Rs. 4 lakh.

Source : The Hindu

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