The maker of the iconic Ambassador car cited "very low productivity, growing indiscipline, critical shortage of funds, lack of demand for its core product the Ambassador and large accumulation of liabilities" as the reasons behind the suspension of work at the plant.
The Ambassador, also called the "Amby", is based on Britain's Morris Oxford, which became defunct in 1957
The opening up of India's economy in the 1990s broke Ambassador's monopoly, though the big setback for the car came in 2003, when German made BMWs replaced the Ambassador as the prime minister's fleet. Bureaucrats followed soon, replacing their Ambys with swanky sedans
It was once the only car driven by politicians and government officials.
Despite its dwindling sales, the distinctive car has many admirers and was last year named the world’s best taxi by the BBC’s popular TV show Top Gear
But the company only sold 2,200 Ambassadors in the financial year which ended in March 2014, a tiny share of the 1.8 million passenger cars sold during the year in India
The result of defying change
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