Maruti Omni, a vehicle that doesn’t need an introduction. Introduced in 1984, it has been a very important member of Indian Automotive Market playing a part that could not have been played by any other vehicle. It is an ode to a family vehicle in almost every sense.
Throughout its lifespan we have seen it doing many duties apart from being just the family vehicle. It has stood the test of time and served as a school bus and an ambulance just to say the least. Not to forget, it has been the favourite villain vehicle in the movies and otherwise. At some point, it earned the rather dubious nickname of “the kidnapping van”.
The USP of the vehicle has always been its simplicity and ease of use. Over the years, as the competition grew the OMNI lost its charm as the family vehicle of choice. Gradually, the usage got limited only to a commercial van since it lacks modern day features and safety requirements. As a brief for my project, I thought of reintroducing this ICON keeping in mind the needs of the current Indian user and market scenario. I focus to introduce the OMNI in a new segment and pricing targeting Semi Urban young businessmen.
The next generation Omni is bigger, better and safer to match the competition in the market but it still has compactness and simplicity from its predecessor. I approached the project with a realistic view to get closer to the real world constraints of production vehicles and packaging.
A Internship project at studio 34 (2020)
Author:
Sashank Shekhar, B. Des. Sem. VIII, Automobile and Transportation Design, Unitedworld Institute of Design (UID)
