After 35 years, Maruti Omni bows out from service - Report

Earlier this week, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) announced the prices of the 2019 Eeco, which gets additional safety features that are required to meet the more stringent safety regulations. Now, Gaadiwaadi reports that the Maruti Omni, which has been on sale in India since 1984, has been pulled off the market owing its inability to upgrade to the new norms.

Based on the seventh generation Suzuki Super Carry, the Maruti Omni is incapable of attaining compliance with the stricter norms. Therefore, in spite of considerably strong demand (by October 2018, the company had sold over 15.7 million units of the bare-basic van), the company didn't have any option but to finally pull the plug on it.

The updated passenger vehicle norms mandate the provision of a driver-side airbag, speed warning alert, front seatbelt reminder, and rear parking sensors as standard fitments on all cars from July 1, 2019. ABS became mandatory at the start of this month. By October 1, 2019, all models will be required to comply with stringent crash test norms, and by April 1, 2020, India will embrace BS-VI emission norms. The Maruti Omni, whose origins date back to several decades ago, is incapable of adopting the upgrades required to meet the new safety norms.

In fact, RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, had hinted that of the Omni and the Eeco, only the latter still has a future in the Indian market. While the repurposed Versa, which is, in turn, based on the tenth-gen Super Carry, has already received a set of updates, it would even get a BSVI-compliant engine, new dashboard and structural upgrades to pass through with BNVSAP’s crash tests.

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At the time of compiling this story, the Maruti Omni is still listed on the official website. It is available in 5- and 8-seat versions, with prices ranging from INR 2,82,777-2,87,553 (ex-showroom Delhi).

[Source: gaadiwaadi.com]