Revamped Ambassador in the works, will come with short boot
The talks of HM Ambassador being on a comeback trail have been rife for quite some time now. The Morris Oxford II that was re-tweaked and indigenously re-engineered after the Brits left had been selling well before dwindling into oblivion in the past few years. The corporation sold a mere 8000 units of the car in the earlier fiscal. To stem its own downfall, the company is now readying a new variant of the Ambassador which will be, ahem, more contemporary and practical than the Ambassador that we know. Pune based Oneo plan has been assigned the task of refurbishing the car and prototypes are already reported to be ready. Company’s MD, Manoj Jha is optimistic about bringing in some volumes and expects the new automobile to be prepared for sale by April-June 2011. The new car will be powered by a modern 1.5-litre CRDi powerplant, which should impart some life into this hitherto sluggish workhorse.
The news of a compact (with slashed boot) version of the car is also doing the rounds, with an Amby car with small boot having been caught testing on the streets of Pune. The corporation is planning to slot the car into the small car bracket by engineering it at less than 4 meters length and avail the excise duty cut. Hindustan Motors has been posting losses, with previous financial loss being at Rs 43 crore. The company is also losing key citizens from top management, and this ploy to re-do the Amby may be the company’s last chance to survive in an extremely tough market. We hope that the company is scheduling a proper overhaul for the car with a redesigned architecture, new suspension, better transmission and contemporary interiors. A cosmetic makeover may just not be enough to save the much loved Amby!
Hindustan Motors Ltd is looking to double the sales of its Ambassador Car
The auto major Hindustan Motors Ltd is looking to double the sales of its Ambassador car to 24,000 vehicles per annum. The expansion plans will materialize in the next 15-18 months through the launch of six new variants. The company also plans to have both passenger cars and commercial vehicles in the next 12 to 15 months. 
The plans will materialize in the first quarter of 2011 and amongst the six variants, four would be of the Ambassador. Hindustan Motors Ambassador Managing Director Manoj Jha said, "It is a coveted addition to the HM-Mitsubishi product portfolio and will have a major impact in its segment in the Indian automotive scenario”. He also said, "We are confident of doing much better with the launch of our new variants in the coming days." He added, "Our auto components business is doing well. We have enough capacity -- around 1,000 tonnes each for forgings and castings. We plan to ramp it up in the coming days."
In addition to manufacturing the Ambassador, India's oldest passenger car model, it also makes auto components in its Uttarpara plant in west Bengal. Besides, Hindustan Motors has a technical tie-up with Mitsubishi Motors. Besides, the company's facility in Chennai manufactures Mitsubishi Lancer and Pajero vehicles. Additionally the Tamil Nadu plant assembles Mitsubishi's Outlander sport utility vehicle. Hindustan Motors Ltd will also enhance the monthly output of its small truck-Winner-to 1,000 at its Indore facility. Hindustan Motors has not provided any particular time-frame for this. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, Hindustan Motors gained 2.29% to Rs26.75 while the benchmark Sensex closed 1.73% down at 19,585.