Maruti 800 – our first auto love for almost 30 years

When will India decide to give a decent burial to Maruti/Suzuki 800 after nearly 30 years of devoted service and say Good Bye with a nice obituary    ?    Following the great old tradition, Suzuki will not stop production even if they get order for 5 cars a month.  I guess Alto may not be able sustain for long, even if it comes down to Suzuki 800 price level due to Tata Nano.

Alto may still survive Nano - but M800 will not.

Honesty is not a Spare Wheel that you pull out when in trouble. It's a Steering Wheel that keeps you on the right path throughout the life's journey.

I agree with you but looking at features of Tata Nano and price, Nano wiill cost about 60% of Alto OTR.  Nano will not require PS becuase rear mounted engine and thinner front tire.  Alto Lxi, charges over 25K for PS, whereas for 25K in Nano, you get PW, CL, foglights etc..  My only concern is about effectiveness of A/C with a small engine power like Maruti 800.

My point is in the perspective that Alto, for its size & power, has very decent performance & is quite sturdy/strong. It's economical & very fuel efficient, and decently spacious/comfortable (small family). Therefore, despite competition from Nano, it will still be preferred by many - though its present day market will be affected (obviously).

M800 is a wonderful car in itself. It has served us so well & for so long. It's the increasing preferences, requirements & budget of people, and the availability of so many cars (priced competitively) that has brought M800 to the end of its life-cycle - unless it is revamped & re-priced to compete with Nano.

Honesty is not a Spare Wheel that you pull out when in trouble. It's a Steering Wheel that keeps you on the right path throughout the life's journey.

apart from the features the NANO is not designed to sustain good speeds on the highway. I think the max speed is 70kmph and that too cannot be sustained for long by the Nano. This is for the reason that the ball bearings used for the Nano are cheaper quality ones intended to minimise the cost of the car. So while the Nano will be mainly a city car (a replacement for 2 wheelers) the alto can still be conveniently used for highway travel as well as city driving. The other aspect will be build quality difference between the two and boot space. Alto has a decent boot while the boot for nano is very less. Apart from that safety is more in Alto(front end collosions) as it has a front mounted engine while the Nano has a rear mounted engine. So i guess there will be buyers for the nano and the alto. I personally feel that the nano will end up replacing the autorickshaws/taxis more then ending up as a personal vehicle

Why break rules when following them is much easier!!!

I agree with centaur here ... I have personally inspected Nano when Tata guys came to our office for a display. Even Closing the door with a force causes the car to shake... tata has done well to provide good space in such a small car but the build quality is really low... i do not think that it can withstand bad roads for very long....Maruti on the other hand doesn't have these drawbacks ... safety is a big concern in nano in case of collision etc ... I think it will be still wise for the people to put their hard earned money in 800 than a nano ...

Smile : A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

I understand that the majority of bookings received for Nano are from middle/service class family (owning 2-wheelers).  Some of them are from higher class (already owning 4-wheelers).

This indicates that Nano will be preferred as a family car (& not for commercial purpose, auto-rikshaws etc.).  By the way, Nano is very decent for its size/price - have a look at the FAQs & Answers on Nano.

As far as M800 is concerned, it's already out - Alto has killed its market.  Its market will not be revived only because Nano will be on the roads. Those who would not prefer Nano, will continue to prefer Alto - unless, as stated before, M800 is revamped/re-priced to compete with Nano.

Honesty is not a Spare Wheel that you pull out when in trouble. It's a Steering Wheel that keeps you on the right path throughout the life's journey.

Amit now is citing the same disadvantages for Nano that one generally quotes for a MARUTI...  

Since when did M800/Alto become "safe"? AFAIK, it should be the #1 vehicle responsible for collision deaths, as the penetration of the vehicle surpasses any other, and so does it's flimsiness of build. A slightly less flimsy front bulkhead (I am hesitant to call it such) is no protection at the speeds the 800/Alto can propell itself. And the car itself need not be the offending vehicle, it can get hit while stationary.

Would Tatas build a trojan horse in the Nano in terms of low quality bearings? I would guess NO. Would they want it to self-destruct on use, and then earn a bad bad name for itself? Indian car user is vindictive, and Tatas are still licking their wounds after the initial Indica blunders. They would not dare another mistake, particularly for such a high profile (however cheapo) product.

A vehicle like Nano is not meant to be driven on highways for looong durations, it simply does not have the comfort level for that use. But I would consider a Maruti 800/Alto in the same league, for the same reasons.

you could say that Amit has made a comparative reply. Previous when the nano was non existent, the 800/alto were not safe 'when compared to other cars' but now with the nano coming into existence the 800/alto seem more safe 'compared to nano'. In future if you have a car cheaper than the Nano with even more cheaper quality parts and spares , you will end up calling the nano safe 'when compared to that car' you too will agree that getting a car as cheap as 1 lac is impossible without compromising on quality and thats the entire point. The alto/800 which are OTR around 3.15 lacs or so definitely ought to have a better built and quality than the nano which would come around half the price of the former. If there is a performance failure from Nano in the future I wouldnt be surprised to hear a "what do you expect in a 1 lac car" or " do you expect a 1 lac car to perform and have a quality like a more expensive one" from the TATAs


Why break rules when following them is much easier!!!

Maruti 800 is only 25 years not 30 years old as posted in the 1st post.

Its going to stay for few more years  "the company resently announced that  they r doing R&D to make them compliant with Bharat stage IV norms .

                                        - Car India July 09

Everybody wants to ride with you in the Limo, but what you need it somebody who will take the bus with you when the Limo breaks down - Oprah Winfrey