A tiny car, but a towering national presence. Indian motoring history reached its fabled inflexion point on a wintry December morning in 1993 when a tiny car was rolled out of a factory in Gurgaon. Indian roads have never been the same ever since. With virtually 90% of the world's biggest automobile brands already plying their trade on Indian roads today, Sunday (December 14) marks an important milestone in India's automotive history.

Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of Maruti 800, a car that literally put Indians on an automotive diet, which continues unabated as the first, true-blue, Indian people's car. Call it a cultural icon, a social symbol, or even a national emblem of sorts, the Maruti 800 has remained a mainstay of personal mobility for the masses. Its ownership transcended class and economic barriers, and its story goes away beyond mere numbers.

Speaking of which, time for some quantitative perspective. In its 25-year life, Maruti Udyog Ltd has produced 27,36,046 units of the 800, of which exports accounted for 1,92,914 units. What it means is that Maruti rolled out an impressive number of 800s every year - over 100,000 units per year on an average - for which any car maker would be willing donate an arm and a leg.
What is truly impressive about these figures is that the 800 came in at a time when the Indian automotive output stood at close to 40,000 units per annum. Within a year of its launch, the industry nearly doubled and,thereafter, kept at it for a few more years. In certain cases, the market also happened to favour the competition solely because MUL was unable to keep production to match with pent up demand! Rarely has the automotive world seen such a scenario play out, on such a large scale.
Mr. Harpal Singh, Maruti’s first customer, proudly received the keys of the Maruti 800 car from the Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi on December 14, 1983.