Hindustan Motors announces VRS for permanent staff at Uttarpara plant

NEW DELHI: Hindustan Motors, the maker of once popular Ambassador car, has announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for permanent staff at Uttarpara plant in West Bengal.
The company has announced a VRS for all permanent 'grade scale staff' and 'technicians' of the company who will be on the rolls of Uttarpara plant as on October 1, 2015, Hindustan Motors (HM) today said in a regulatory filing.

Last year the company's management had declared suspension of work at the Uttarpara plant, which had been facing severe cash crunch.

In a regulatory filing the company had said that various factors, including very low productivity, growing indiscipline, critical shortage of funds, lack of demand for its core product -- the Ambassador -- and large accumulation of liabilities led to the suspension of work at the plant.

The Uttarpara plant, which started operations in 1948, used to produce Ambassador (1,500 and 2,000 cc diesel, 1,800 cc petrol and CNG & LPG variants) in the passenger car segment and light commercial vehicle, HM Winner.

The company also manufactured automotive and forged components in the plant.

Once a status symbol, the Ambassador began losing its dominance in the mid-1980s when Maruti Suzuki India Ltd introduced its low-priced 800 hatchback.

It further lost market share when global auto makers began setting up shop in India in the mid-1990s, offering models with contemporary designs and technology.