Maruti Suzuki India Limited is now going to end up the production of its iconic car Alto 800 soon which was the best and affordable carrier for thousands of middle class families. According to the reports it is believed that there might be two reasons behind this decision.
The first reason for its conclusion is the engine of the Maruti Alto 800 cannot be organised to meet the terms of the new release laws, while on the other hand its body also does not come across new crash test standards coming into effect, because of which like the Omni, Alto 800 is also coming to the end its further production.
According to the reports it is expected that Maruti Suzuki will stop the production of Alto 800 in the second half or Q3 of calendar year 2019. The company plans its entire team to meet the terms with crash test standards three months earlier to the 1st July 2019 deadline.
Even as 60 per cent of the company’s team presently fulfils with these emission standards, by January 2020, all of Maruti Suzuki reproductions will be BS VI compliant but the engine that give powers to both Alto 800 and Omni that is 796cc F8B engine, can’t be produced to meet the terms with these standards.
Restoring of the Alto 800, which is in an entry level segment, to meet the terms with these standards will lead to the model not to be budget effective. This means that in order to meets the terms with these standards high cost redesigning will be implemented, not only a new engine but also an intricate new design, where various new features would be added such as airbags and ABS as standard features. With these high costs of restructuring, an overall new model would be a good investment.
Another reason for which Alto 800 is stopped from the production is because of the fact that A Segment cars are required to be limited to an 800cc engine as well as need not to go beyond 3.6 m in length. That is why; it is making it difficult to meet the terms with crash test standards as the cars which fall in this category are very short to accommodate crush zone areas.
To meet the terms with BS VI emission norms the petrol engines have to be fixed with catalyst reduction exhaust treatment system and for this new reconstruction Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 is very small to accommodate.
Along with Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, the Omni is soon going to stop its production from the company line-up. As the withdrawal of Omni from its production will lead to no other option by the company for offering in the van segment, which will then further adds volumes to sales amount. Now, Maruti Suzuki Eeco is being designed to meet the terms with crash test standards as well as it will get an engine that meets BS VI emissions standards.
UPDATE 5:50 PM – Maruti Suzuki India has stated that Alto 800 will not be discontinued in 2019. They have rubbished the rumours about Alto 800 being discontinued from 2019.
