13 cities to bid adieu to Maruti 800 from April 1

Come April 2010, the iconic Maruti 800 model will not be available in several cities across the country.

With the new emission laws, which require all automakers to upgrade the engines of cars sold in the top 13 cities to Bharat Stage IV levels, coming into force from April 1, Maruti Suzuki has said that it has no intention of making the Maruti 800 compliant with the new standards. Speaking at the sidelines of an HR Conclave organised by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Mr R. C. Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki, said, "The M800 is not compliant with BS IV and I don't think we have any intentions of making it compliant either. It'll go out of 13 cities beginning April. At the moment, we don't have a position on a complete phase out plan."

The cities where the 800 model will cease to be available when the new emission norms are introduced include Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Bangalore, Kanpur, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Source : Business Line (Online Edition)