Hindustan Motors just sold iconic ambassador brand to Peugeot. The deal price will shock you

For the kids born in 70s and 80s, ambassador wasn’t just a car. At a time with limited options in four-wheelers, ambassadors were a sign of luxury for those who could afford it. A car that has carried our Prime Ministers and Presidents for ages has already stopped its productions a few years back. And now as the final nail on the coffin, the C K Birla Group-owned Hindustan Motors just sold the brands and trademarks to Peugeot SA Group.

The deal has been formalised at Rs 80 crore.

It is not known whether the French car maker Peugeot may use the brand to sale cars in India.

Modelled after the British Morris Oxford, the Ambassador was the first car to be made in India and was once a status symbol, but began losing its dominance in the mid-1980s when Maruti Suzuki introduced its low-priced 800 hatchback. It lost further cachet and market share when global automakers began setting up shop in India in the mid-1990s, offering models with contemporary designs and technology. The Ambassador has remained the choice of a dwindling share of bureaucrats and politicians, usually in white with a red beacon on top and a chauffeur at the wheel. It is also still in use as a taxi in some Indian cities including Kolkata.

Despite its British origins, the Ambassador is considered as a definitive Indian car and is fondly called the "king of Indian roads". The automobile was manufactured by Hindustan Motors at its Uttarpara plant in West Bengal.