Exclusive: Maruti Suzuki Omni To Be Discontinued

Maruti Suzuki has exclusively confirmed to carandbike that the Omni will not make it beyond October 2020 when the Bharat New Vehicles Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) will kick in. Speaking to carandbike on the sidelines of the company's Q2 and half yearly results, R C Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India said, "There are certain models that cannot be made ready to meet the upcoming safety norms and we will have to discontinue them, Maruti Omni being one of them. The Maruti 800 was a very important model for us but we had to discontinue it, in a similar manner we will also discontinue the Omni."

The design of the Maruti Suzuki Omni being a flat front lacks the structural integrity to conform to the new crash norms. It cannot be fitted with crumple zones to absorb the impact in case of a collision. Other products under scanner are the Eeco Van and the entry-level Alto 800 hatchback. Maruti Suzuki is maintaining that its team is working on their design and are trying to make sure the cars comply with the upcoming safety standards. "It is not that the Eeco and Alto 800 cannot be made ready to meet the safety standards. They will require extensive development and we are trying to ready them for the upcoming safety norms," added Bhargava.

The Maruti Suzuki Omni was launched in 1984 and since then has seen the light of the day and that too without much moderation. In the 34 years of its life span, Maruti has given the Omni only two facelifts- first in 1998 when it got the squared headlamps and a marginally wider stance and then in 2005 when its face was tweaked and it got a new dashboard.

It was powered by a 796cc, three-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed transmission that sends the power to the rear wheels. The 0.8-litre engine is the same that use to power the Maruti Suzuki 800 and produces 35 bhp and 59 Nm of peak torque.