Cars Discontinued or Discontinued in 2020 in India

The year 2019 has not been a great year for the automotive industry in India. Thanks to the upcoming BS-VI norms and strict safety regulations to match the global standards, the customers are keenly watching and hence delaying their purchase. 

On the other hand, the stocks or the unsold cars are piling up at the dealerships and the factory. This is causing all the major players to incur losses. Another reason for the decline in purchase might be the increasing preference towards ride-sharing and car leasing.

This year we have seen many cars getting discontinued, mostly due to the reasons stated above. Let’s have a look at some of the cars which have already been discontinued or are in line to be discontinued:

Tata Sumo (1994 – 2019)

Tata finally managed to pull off the plug on its ageing MUV. Tata believed that it would not be a good idea to invest time and money in updating this product. Sumo was last launched in 2011 as ‘Sumo Gold’ and didn’t receive any facelift or updates during its course.

This throws a light on Tata Motor’s transition from old products to fresh products. The car was last sold in March 2019, where the figure was just 96 units. Once the leader in its segment, the Sumo faced stiff competition from Bolero and lost big time.

Average monthly sales (2018): 607 units
 

Tata Bolt (2014 – 2019)

Launched in 2014, the Bolt hatchback was a fresh product from Tata Motors but was based on the older X1 platform. The inability of the car to appeal to the customers led to its downfall.

Tata Motors also didn’t give the Bolt any major update during its lifecycle as it concentrated more on the Zest, Tiago, Hexa, Tigor and the Nexon. The car was discontinued primarily due to poor customer response and sales. The car has been selling in double digits for the past 5-6 months.

Average monthly sales (2018): 202 units
 

Honda Brio (2011 – 2019)

Brio, the entry-level hatchback was launched in India on September 2011. Although the car received a facelift in 2016, its sales never picked up. The company has announced that the hatchback wouldn’t be replaced with a new product and the Amaze would be their entry-level car for the Indian market.

Instead of Bolt, the Amaze brought good numbers for Honda and that too post-facelift version. As a result, Brio was pulled off due to poor customer response.

Average monthly sales (2018): 190 units
 

Maruti Suzuki Omni (1984 – 2019)

Until its last breath, the Omni used to sell 6000-8000 units consistently. The Omni was popularly called as ‘Bollywood’s Favourite Kidnapping Car’. The minivan will be remembered by everyone as it was directly linked to our childhood.

The car probably had the longest production run in India i.e., 34 years. The Omni was mainly utilised as a school van and ambulance. Maruti believes the model cannot be fitted with safety features and implementing the BS-VI would raise the cost of the car. On the other hand, Eeco will be updated and will be the perfect replacement for the legendary car.

Average monthly sales (2018): 7171 units
 

Maruti Suzuki Gypsy (1985 – 2019)

Everyone remembers the Gypsy as a police car or the army jeep. Just like the Omni, the car had one of the longest production runs, i.e., 34 years. The jeep has been discontinued due to similar reasons as the Omni. Gypsy was the only petrol-powered off-roader in the country.

Maruti has given its dealerships instructions to not accept any new booking. Also, Maruti Suzuki lost its contract to supply vehicles to the Indian Army, when the Army announced Safari Storme as its official vehicle in April 2017.

This ended the Gypsy’s decade long association with the Indian army. Another reason for its downfall was the lack of enthusiast’s interest. The customers preferred the Mahindra Thar and even the Force Gurkha, over the ageing Gypsy. During its lifecycle, Maruti didn’t change the design of the Gypsy.

Average monthly sales (2018): 375 units
 

Tata Nano (2009 – 2019)

An ambitious project aimed to make cars affordable to masses didn’t really work as believed. The car was dubbed as ‘₹ 1 Lakh Car’ and ‘World’s Cheapest Car’ didn’t really go well with the customers later.

Later on, its lifecycle, the car didn’t even fit in the 1 lakh price bracket. With the rising need for AMT and power steering, Tata Motors launched the GenX version of this compact car in 2014.

This update revived the car a bit but that was not sufficient to invest time and money. Due to emotional reasons, Tata kept the car going and even made it available as ‘Built to order’.

From this year onwards, not a single car has been produced. The reasons are simple: high costs involved in making it BS-VI as well as crash-test compliant and poor demand. One thing that Nano deserves credit for was the ample interior space and the fun to drive factor.

Average monthly sales (2018): 43 units
 

Hyundai Eon (2011 – 2019)

Hyundai’s entry-level hatchback was launched in 2011 and was placed as the entry-level hatchback. The car did healthy sales of around 5000 per month but Hyundai believed that the car could not be made a complaint with the upcoming BS-VI regulations and safety features.

This now means that the new Santro will replace the Eon as the lowest offering. Being just an entry-level car, Hyundai didn’t focus much on providing the Eon with a facelift.

It only updated the features in its lifecycle. Eon was initially offered with an 0.8 L petrol engine producing 55 BHP and 75 Nm of torque. The Eon was later upgraded in 2014 with a 1.0 L 3 cyl Kappa engine producing 65 BHP and 95 Nm of torque.

Average monthly sales (2018): 3473 units
 

Mahindra Xylo (2009-2019)

Mahindra has confirmed that the Xylo will be discontinued in response to the upcoming crash test and BS-VI regulations. Add to that the growing competition, dying sales, old design and lack of features are also the reasons for its exit.

The Xylo was launched in 2009 and was an initial success but soon its popularity faded away. Mahindra launched the Marazzo last year in September as a successor to the Xylo and has already garnered healthy sales.

Average monthly sales (2018): 521 units
 

Renault Lodgy (2009 -)

With the Triber to be launched in August 2019, it is likely that Renault will pull the plug off its other MPV, the Lodgy. While Renault has officially announced that it will discontinue all its diesel models in India post-April 2020, you can expect the Lodgy to be discontinued anytime soon as its already poor sales might dip further when the Triber starts selling.

Only 55 Lodgy were dispatched to dealerships last month, and this has been the usual figure this year. Currently, the Lodgy is only available with a diesel engine.

Average monthly sales (2018): 94 units
 

Fiat Punto (2009 -)

Punto is arguably one of the best looking and fun to drive hatchback that faced a painful death. Fiat never really worked on improving the service experience and that led to its downfall. At the time of its launch, the Punto seemed to be a great product but overtime it appeared to be outdated. 

Meanwhile, Avventura, Urban Cross and 595 Abarth were also launched but they never managed to catch the buyer’s interest. Fiat’s parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) believes that it’s a gamble to revive the brand in India as that requires a huge investment.

For the time being, FCA wants to focus on JEEP only. Interestingly, even ABS is not standard on Punto as well as Linea. Post-April 2019, ABS is compulsory, so Fiat is keen on selling these cars.

Many might know that Fiat also supplies its 1.3-litre MultiJet engine to other companies like Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors. As this engine is not BS-VI compliant, these companies have started developing their powertrains in-house instead of sourcing it from Fiat. An iconic brand as Fiat is, it will be really missed especially by the enthusiasts. 

Average monthly sales (2018): 50 units
 

Fiat Linea (2008 -)

Linea was one of the most popular sedans when it was launched in January 2009. But with more competitive and better products from more common brands, the Linea suffered heavily.

Its sales started declining gradually and Fiat even made some changes but that hasn’t worked for the car as it continues to sell in extremely low numbers. Fiat might pull the plug anytime on the Linea.

It is believed that Linea will not be able to comply with the upcoming emissions and safety regulations, as a significant investment will be required. 

Average monthly sales (2018): 10 units
 

Tata Safari Storme (2012 –)

The Safari became a brand in itself, thanks to its distinguished design, masculine stance, driveability, ruggedness, massive road presence and off-road capabilities. Tata Safari was first launched in 1998 to replace the Sierra. It was one of the first premium SUVs in the country.

The car did receive some major changes, especially in the engine department. The Safari Storme was launched in 2012 and it remained in the market alongside the Dicor, but the Dicor was phased out in 2017, as the product was getting older.

The Safari legacy is about to end and it will be interesting to see if the Tata brings a new product and encashes on the strong fanbase of the Safari. With increasing competition and upcoming stringent safety norms, Tata is phasing all its older models one by one.

The Storme is now the oldest model in Tata’s portfolio. Also, it is the official vehicle for the Indian Army, so it will continue to supply the product according to the contract. Tata will soon launch the Buzzard 7-seater SUV.   

Average monthly sales (2018): 512 units 
 

Tata Zest (2014 -)

The Zest has been hailed as a product that has set the transition phase for Tata Motors. It along with Bolt depicted the new age Tata cars. Though the Zest didn’t enjoy the success Tata Motors would have wanted, it certainly paved way for cars such as Tiago and the Nexon.

The Zest even won many awards and was probably the most premium compact sedans initially. But the stiff competition from Dzire never allowed the sales to take off.

Even the Tigor is cannibalising some of its sales. Tata Motors has announced that it will limit its platforms to two and that might mean the end of the road for Zest, which hasn’t received any major facelift since its launch. 

Average monthly sales (2018): 1138 units

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