Iconic car Ambassador 2.0 to come soon with a French twist

India's iconic and first indigenously manufactured car, Ambassador is making a comeback in a brand new avatar. Hindustan Motors owned Ambassador car hit the roads in 1958 and was present till 2014. However, with passing years, it failed to keep up with the technology and comfort, leading to declining sales.

This forced Hindustan Motors to cease the production of the Ambassador car. The joint venture of Hind Motor Financial Corporation of India (HMFCI) and French carmaker Peugeot will now launch the new incarnation of Ambassador 2.0. They are reportedly working on the design and the engine of Ambassador 2.0, named Amby. 

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The new model of the classic car brand will be manufactured at Hindustan Motors (HM) Chennai facility, which is run by HMFCI, a CK Birla Group affiliate company. Peugeot was one of the first international automakers to enter Indian market in the mid-1990s, during country's economic liberalisation.

CK Birla Group sold the Ambassador brand for Rs 80 crore to the French automaker Peugoet in 2017. Ambassador was owned by celebrities and politicians to the common masses and was a status symbol in India from the 1960s to the mid-1990s. It was the lone mass-produced luxury car in the market.

In 2013-14, the annual sales of the Ambassador car fell to under 2,000 units from over 20,000 units in the mid-1980s after which the production of the car was stopped.