The Hindustan Ambassador is a carmanufactured by Hindustan Motors of India.

It has been in production since 1958

with few modifications or changes and is based on theMorris Oxford III model first made by the Morris Motor
Company at Cowley, Oxford in theUnited Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.

Despite its British origins, the Ambassador is considered as a definitive Indian car and is fondly called "The king of
Indian roads". The automobile is manufactured by Hindustan Motors at its Uttarpara plant near Kolkata,West Bengal. It
was the most popular car in India and is perceived to be best suited to the harsh Indian terrain due to its very good
suspension.Its iconic status was helped by the fact that it was the preferred means of conveyance of India's political
leadership, including the Prime Minister of India, before they moved on to other luxury carsand SUVs. In 2002, then-
Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee started traveling in an armored BMW 7 Series for security purposes. However, some
prominent Indian politicians, such as Sonia Gandhi, continue with their preference for the Hindustan Ambassador.
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Origins

When the Birlaswanted a new model to replace their already old Hindustan models based on Morris Oxford Series II
(Hindustan Landmaster), they scouted for the then-new Morris Oxford Series III. The car initially came with a side valve
engine but was later improved to an overhead valve engine. Also the car at that point was quite an innovation with a
fully enclosed monocoque chassis, which is why it is spacious inside.

Hindustan Motors Limited (HM), India's pioneering automobile manufacturing company and flagship company of the
C.K. Birla Group was established just before Indian independence, in 1942 by B.M. Birla, commencing operations in a
small assembly plant in Port Okha near Gujarat,

Evolution

The Amby, as it is affectionately called, has been in continuous production since its inception, with very few changes to
its frame.

In 1948, Hindustan Motors shifted its assembly plant from Port Okha in Gujarat to Uttarpara in West Bengal's Hooghly
district and strengthened its manufacturing capacity in the automobile segment.

The 1954 Morris Oxford series II in India was licence-built at Uttarpara, (Hooghly dist.), West Bengal, three years after
its debut in England and labelled as the 1957 Hindustan Landmaster. It had a rounded rear squab and a curvaceous
sloping hood.

Engaged in the manufacture of the Ambassador, Contessa and utility vehicles like the Trekker, Porter and Pushpak, the
plant also has to its credit, many innovations and improvements in the automobile industry in India. Hindustan Motors is
the only manufacturing facility in the world to manufacture parts for Bedford trucks currently.

Hindustan Motors Ambassador

The most important men in India travel in ambassadors. Apart from comfort, one of the more pertinent reasons for the case is
the fact that Ambassador was the first car manufactured in India. Based on the prototype Morris OxFord, ambassadors have
been on the Indian roads since 1958. Amazingly Ambassador's popularity has remained undiminished by the plethora of
flashy cars that have been sprouted by the craze of globalization. Ambassador's unceasing run of success may be attributed
to its being impeccably Indian- spacious enough for large families and durable enough for bad roads.

The Turnaround Efforts - Phase I

In the early 1990s, when the Indian economy was opened up for foreign players, many multinational
automobile companies entered the country.

In the 1990s, companies including Daewoo, General Motors, Daimler Benz, Hyundai and Honda
entered India through joint ventures and partnerships with Indian firms. HM was one of the worst
affected companies due to this inflow of competitors. Forced to react due to the poor performance of its
vehicles, HM launched the Ambassador Nova in 1990 (with better interiors) and an improved
Ambassador 1800 ISZ (with better engine performance) in 1993. The company also appointed
consultants McKinsey & Co for a restructuring plan to turn around its business. McKinsey asked HM
to focus on the marketing of components, refurbish the Ambassador model and upgrade other vehicles,
speed up the delivery process and improve productivity through reengineering on the floor shop and
reduce the workforce in its production plant at Uttarpara...

The Turnaround Efforts - Phase II

When its attempts to reorganize its operations did not pay off, HM decided to look beyond its existing product
portfolio to come out of its problems. As per McKinsey's recommendations, the company explored the global
auto components business in 2000 and established a unit at Indore to assemble engines and gearboxes.
Analysts said that this was a wise move because HM with its expertise, could easily become a component
supplier for both domestic and global car majors. HM's executive director Sarker Narayanan said, "We are
open to such opportunities. It brings in extra cash and it's an inexpensive way to upgrade our skills by
working with different customers."

In order to use its design and engineering skills to enter new businesses, HM entered into an agreement with
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) for developing petrol engine for M&M vehicles. The company also tied up with
GM to market the entire range of transmission equipment manufactured by Allison Automatics (a company
owned by GM)...

The Road Ahead

The company's moves seemed to be finally bearing fruits as it was able to narrow down the losses in the first
quarter of 2001-02 by around 30%.

HM was banking on the Ambassador's niche markets (government and taxi) and hoped to retain the
segment by launching new variants. The Trekker was also poised to do well after the relaunch and HM
hoped to sell 3,200 vehicles in 2001-02. Analysts however remained skeptical about HM's future
prospects and its ability to make a turnaround as a passenger carmaker.

They felt that the only way out of HM was to turn itself into auto-component supplier to multi-
nationals producing passenger cars in the country. HM on the other hand, seemed confident that with
Pajero's launch in early 2002, it would regain its position in the Indian car market.