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Maruti Suzuki's iconic 800 will no longer be available in the 13 metros, come April 1, 2010 when the BS IV norms are enforced. The small hatch will not be available in the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Surat and Agra from the said date. The BS III car however will continue to be on sale in the rest of the country.
The 800 will not be made BS IV due to slowing sales which negates the cost of upgrades. The confirmation came at a conference when R.C. Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said this,"We have no plans to upgrade the Maruti 800 to meet Bharat Stage IV emission norms."
Sales of the Maruti 800 have slowed down by as much as 37 per cent in the first nine months of 2009-10 while the overall sales of Maruti Suzuki have improved by 32 per cent. The once best-seller today has sales of less than 4,000 units a month, far less than most of the other hatchbacks sold by Maruti Suzuki.
In its 27th year of production, the Maruti 800 is presumed to be on its last legs as Maruti Suzuki prepares its work on a two-cylinder sub 800-cc city car, which according to reports will go in to production by 2012.
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