The advent of much awaited Tata Nano could force Maruti-800 further into the background. The sales of Maruti-800 have been witnessing a sharp fall in the past three years and the new Nano could do added damage.

In FY07, the Maruti-800 had sold 79,000 units and a year later, sales fell to 69,000. This financial year, it sold only 49,000 cars till end of February, and is likely to close this year at around 53,000, going by the trend.

So, is the M-800 waiting to be phased out? A Maruti Suzuki official, on condition of anonymity, said the company had already started thinking ahead. “We are more interested in the Alto, which sold two lakh units last year and continues to sell 20,000 units a month. So that’s the future.”

When asked Maruti chairman, RC Bhargava said, “The launch of Nano will have a marginal impact on Maruti-800.” He reiterated however, that Maruti was not in the Nano segment and there was no question of a price cut to compete with the ‘world’s cheapest car.’ “Our sales this quarter have been reasonably well, and I don’t see any adverse impact in the coming quarter as well,” he said.

Vaishali Jajoo, senior automobile analyst with Angel Broking, said that she expected the M-800 to be phased out soon. “Maruti has not paid any attention to the product, and sales have been dipping. There has not been any attempt to give it at a attractive price point,” she said.

Abdul Majeed, auto analyst with Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, held similar views. “M-800 is a dying product. Volumes are dropping, and there is no possibility of turning the clock back.” The official response from Maruti spokesperson to a list of questions sent by FC was that 5,000 units of the car were still being sold in India every month without any specific sales push, advertising or public relations.

The Maruti Suzuki official, who spoke to FC on condition of anonymity, said the company believed that it was the features and not the price that drove volumes in the compact car segment.