Hindustan Motors sells Legendary Ambassador car brand to Peugeot

Ambassador, the legendary Indian car brand that carried both the Prime Minister and the common man till less than a decade ago, is being sold to Peugeot, a French carmaker.
The C K Birla Group-owned Hindustan Motors formalised the deal for INR 80 crore. However, the Ambassador cars’ production had stopped around three years ago.
“We have executed an agreement with the Peugeot SA Group for the sale of the brand Ambassador, including the trademarks. We intend to use the proceeds from the sale to clear dues of employees and lenders,” said a CK Birla Group spokesperson.
It was an inseparable part of India’s urban landscape to those who grew up in the 1960s and 70s, because Ambassador wasn’t just a car, it was more than that.
Ambassador’s absence of looks was never in doubt. However, in an era of a few choices, the spacious four wheeler car was the most preferred choice for many Indians who could afford it. Even nowadays for many people, the iconic car remains synonymous with memories of their younger days and a marker of an innocent India.
It is still not clear if Peugeot will use the Ambassador brand for their cars in India.
The legendary Ambassador brand was introduced almost seven decades ago when Hindustan Motors had launched the Morris Oxford series II (Landmaster) in a new avatar with small changes.
It rapidly became a national icon which continued to dominate the Indian roads till the 1980s, when the Maruti 800 exposed its insufficiencies.