[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Doge

Omni Ambulance is ironic, that death trap trying to save lives!
A good and long awaited riddance.

An Omni Ambulance helped in saving my life. Shifting me from one hospital to another and time was running out, Omni thanks to its size could bypass the main road.

Ambulances of all sizes have their advantages and disadvantages.

[i74js]

Omni is lifeline of several tier II and tier III locations. I have seen Omni running across streets in Mandai (Pune) where no other Ambulance can go during traffic hours.

I do agree on the safety part and the speed at which these are driven but within city limits and slow traffic moving conditions, Omni is a blessing for the needy.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Sankar

An Omni Ambulance helped in saving my life.

Ambulances of all sizes have their advantages and disadvantages.

Reminded me of an incident, where thanks to the narrow bylanes of Patna, only an Omni could pass and get right to the doorstep of a patient. The main Ambulance(a Tata Winger) was stuck and hence the Omni had to be called.

For smaller cities and towns, Omni and EECO ambulances are truly a lifeline.

[agambhandari]

Bought an eeco about 3-4 years back as a replacement for an Omni that was sold before. The showroom guys were pushing for the eeco even back then and the price difference was very less after some good deals on the Eeco. And after having driven it, the power on the Eeco feels very close to a B1 segment hatch, very eager to pull. And the quality of controls also seems miles ahead of the Omni I remember (mind you of 2005). For any business, Eeco makes sense over Omni.

[chiranjitp]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

And after having driven it, the power on the Eeco feels very close to a B1 segment hatch, very eager to pull. And the quality of controls also seems miles ahead of the Omni I remember (mind you of 2005). For any business, Eeco makes sense over Omni.

There is no doubt that the Eeco is a superior vehicle compared to the Omni & the price difference between the two cars is not so much. But the things in favor of Omni are fuel efficiency & lower maintenance costs & these things matter highly to the typical Omni or Eeco customer. The G12 engine in the Eeco simply can't match the fuel efficiency of the smaller F8B engine & hence the Omni sales number are similar to that of the Eeco.

[roby_dk]

Maybe they are working on enhancement of these cars to be used as ambulance. I also feel these are the best available options to be used as an emergency life saver vehicles in our country.

I recently spotted an Omni with exhaust fan. Not sure what might be the purpose of putting the same in a car. It might help in better ventilation for passengers but it looks weird.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by roby_dk

I recently spotted an Omni with exhaust fan. Not sure what might be the purpose of putting the same in a car. It might help in better ventilation for passengers but it looks weird.

Probably the car is used as one of those mobile food stations(mostly seen around parks etc).

Regards,
Shashi

[Doge]

Originally Posted by GTO

When I saw the original thread title, I was . The Omni & Eeco bread-boxes sell over 10,000 copies / month. That's huge profit on cars built from fully depreciated machinery. Plus, it helps Maruti maintain a relationship with a segment (e.g. cargo industry) that its regular cars could never have.

Similarly, the Gypsy helps Maruti maintain relations with the Defence Forces.

On discontinuing only the ambulance variants, I agree with Romeomidhun's post.



India is still a 'developing' country, buddy and budget is a restriction. Which other Ambulance costing 3.xx lakhs ex-showroom would you prefer for a family member? Take a look at the options in the price band and you'll see that they are all death traps. Forget ambulances, even when it comes to regular cars, safety usually starts at 6+ lakhs (Polo, Liva etc.) and they cannot be used as Ambulances.

I'm sure that Suzuki can do much better than that roll over box at the price. The Omni was an unsafe car right from the start, even in the 80s. I'm not even talking about the crash safety, Omni makes a terrible car because of its flawed design and roll over friendly handling.
We maybe a developing nation but we don't need these left overs.