Ambassador brand sold for £800k

The iconic brand Ambassador, owned by CK Birla Group, has been sold to European Auto Peugeot for £0.8m  (Rs 80 crore). The manufacturing of Ambassador cars has been discontinued. “Hindustan Motors has executed an agreement with Peugeot SA for the sale of the Ambassador brand, including the trademarks, for a consideration of Rs 80 crore. Last month the PSA Group had linked a partnership with the CK Birla group to re-enter the Indian market and earmarked an initial investment of €100 million to set up vehicle and powertrain manufacturing in Tamil Nadu.

Based on the British Morris Oxford, the Ambassador was for three decades India’s bestselling car.

The joint venture agreements between the companies of two groups entail the initial manufacturing capacity of about 100, 000 vehicles per year and manufacturing of powertrains will cater to the domestic market requirements and global OEMs. The partnership will allow both companies to participate in the growth of the Indian automotive market, which is expected to reach 10million cars by 2025 from the current 3million in 2016.