Seven iconic Indian brands and establishments which failed to stand the test of time

Long before multiple car makers swarmed into the Indian market with their sedans, SUVs, hatch backs and crossovers, the ubiquitous Ambassador ruled the Indian roads. From 1958, when Hindustan Motors first started manufacturing the Ambassador, which was modeled after the Morris Oxford series III, till the early 1980s when Maruti disrupted the auto scene in India with its flagship 800 cc model, the Ambassador enjoyed a monopoly.
Anyone and everyone who could afford a car (which were not many) would drive the Ambassador – from the politicians in their ostentatious white, beaconed cars, to the taxi drivers in their kaali peeli ones. The much-loved car was known for its sturdy body and powerful engine and had even been crowned the best taxi in the world by BBC’s Top Gear programme.
The opening up of the automobile sector and the entry of numerous other auto brands into the
country led to its demise, with Hindustan Motors halting production in 2014.

Image credit: By Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England – Hindustan Ambassador Taxi in Goa India, October 1994, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48384759

Much before smart phones and smart watches came into the picture, HMT adorned our wrists and dominated the watch market. HMT has a history dating back to 1961 when PSU set up its first factory in Bangalore, in collaboration with Japan’s Citizen Watch Co. The first batch of the Hand Wound Wrist Watches manufactured by HMT was released by the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
The watches continued to be an integral part of the average Indian attire in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s until competition and technological changes led to the watch maker facing growing losses. HMT Watches finally chimed its last in April 2016 when it shut down its last manufacturing unit in Tumakuru.
Image credit: By Kokkarani – photo by mePreviously published: not published, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49583348

Parle Agro forayed into the soft drinks space in 1977 after foreign brands such as Coca Cola and PepsiCo exited the Indian market, because the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). Soon, Gold Spot, with the tag line ‘The Zing Thing’, along with Limca and Thumbs Up, became the cool drink to be seen with.

However, when Coca Cola and PepsiCo re-entered the Indian market in 1993, Gold Spot could not hold up to the foreign competition. Parle then sold its soft drinks to Coca-Cola, which while retaining Thums Up and Limca, withdrew Gold Spot from the market to make space for Fanta.

The mandate for manufacturing India’s first people’s car was quite challenging. Maruti Udyog Ltd, which was a partnership between the Indian Government and Japanese based Suzuki, had to meet the numerous parameters which the Indian Government stipulated, while also keeping its Japanese counterpart in the loop.

In his book titled The Maruti Story, RC Bhargava chairman of Maruti Suzuki has written about how, when they first started the project of manufacturing a car that India’s burgeoning middle class could afford, they were met with much scepticism. When they were setting up a 1,00,000 units plants, people told them that they won’t be able to sell even 40,000. Proving everyone wrong, the Maruti 800 went on to become the highest selling car of the 80s and 90s, revilutionising the Indian auto scene, with more than 2.7 million units sold since its launch.

However, with the arrival of Maruti Suzuki’s own newer brands including the Alto and Wagon R and Hyundai’s Santro, Maruti 800 slowly went out of favour. The company started phasing out the car in 2010, and its production was stopped in 2014.

Image credit: By Simrandeep CHAMAK – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52192866

For many, one of the highlights of the local train journey along Mumbai’s Western Lines was the signal between Vile Parle and Andheri stations. A halt here would mean a respite from the usual foul smells, when the air would turn rich with the aroma of freshly baked buscuits.

The iconic factory located just adjacent to the tracks was where Parle G had been manufacturing its biscuits for 87 years. It was also a regular jaunt for school trips, with the factory opening its doors to school children to help them understand the process that goes into making the biscuits.

However, with a general decline in the production capacity of the local factory, the company’s owner Vijay Chauhan decided to shut down the iconic factory in July, 2016.
Image credit: ANI on Twitter

A sweet shop that dated back to 1790, the Ghantewala Halwai had among its distinguished clientele emperors, Prime Ministers and Presidents, apart from the common man. Set up by Lala Sukh Lal Jain, a small time sweet maker from Rajasthan, Ghantewala Sweets, in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, the sweet shop earned its name from when Jain started off by selling the sweets on a brass plate, balanced on his head, ringing a brass bell.
As his business grew, Jain built a shop, which continued growing in fame. Known for its Sohan Halwa, the shop has even played a role in BR Chopra’s 1954 film, Chandi Chowk, where a replica was created in Mumbai. However, legal and licensing problems, as well as the changing customer tastes, led to the closure of the sweet shop in July, last year.

Image credit: By Ekabhishek – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19446968

For years, the arrival of the telegram, or taar, meant some urgent news had to be conveyed – often good, though sometimes fearful. However, more than a 160 years after the first telegram was sent from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour, smart phones, emails and messaging services rang the death knell of the service. In June 2013, Bharat Sanchaar Nigam Limited decided to discontinue the humble service after it became financially unviable to continue, a year after its international service was stopped.