Maruti 800 Rebirth In China; Named As Jiangnan TT

The Maruti 800 is the second longest production car in India and gave many the first car to own. It was discontinued in 2013 after selling nearly twenty-seven lakh units in its history in India.

Now, the humble Maruti 800 has a rebirth in China and has taken the name of Jiangnan TT, it is the cheapest car in China.

The Jiangnan TT is sold by Jiangnan Auto, a subsidiary of Zotye Automobile. The Maruti 800 in China is powered by the familiar 800cc engine which develops 36bhp and 60Nm of torque and is mated to 4-speed gearbox and claims a mileage of 19.23kmpl.

Picture Credit: ChinaAutoWeb

The Jiangnan TT is manufactured by Jiangnan Auto from licensing from Suzuki which has given the manufacturing and retailing to Zotya Automobiles. Hence, the Maruti 800 is not a clone, however, it is an original design car from China.

The company is the looking to target smaller cities, and Chinese countryside to sell the Jiangnan TT; Maruti 800. The price of the Jiangnan TT starts from 15,800 yuan, that is about Rs. 1.67 lakhs.

The Jiangnan TT is based on the Maruti 800 and there aren't any changes except for some minor cosmetic changes. There are roof rails and rear windshield spoiler which comes as standard across variants. Otherwise, the Maruti 800 is more or less the same in design and performance.

The Maruti 800 has a history to it much before this version was there, Suzuki manufactured the Alto which lasted few years and had to be discontinued. With the cheapest car tag with it, shows that there is weak demand for the car, time will tell the Maruti 800 in China will continue its legacy or will it be discontinued forever.