Peugeot Ambassador EV rebirth: May end up looking like a modern Contessa instead

We already know that the iconic Ambassador is set for a new ride in India. The French PSA Group had acquired the Ambassador nameplate back in 2017 and plans to relaunch it soon.

A recent report suggests that the PSA Group will launch the Ambassador as its electric mobility brand in India. What we could be seeing is an electric Ambassador sedan for the Indian market, which is derived from one of the many electric car concepts that Peugeot has in its stable.

We browsed through the Peugeot electric concepts, and came across the Peugeot e-Legend concept electric vehicle, a sedan that gets retro styling. What we know from this is that this is the design direction Peugeot would like to go in. And in that direction, the e-Legend looks like a super cool modern-day Contessa than an Ambassador!

Could the Ambassador Electric sedan – when it gets launched in India – be inspired by or resemble the e-Legend? We can only hope that Peugeot would find a way, and would not give us a dull, boring everyday car as the next Ambassador. If they do go ahead and try to do a Tata here, we may actually end up with a Contessa successor named Ambassador that is an EV – what more could one ask for? However, we fear this may end up just a dream.

The report also goes on to say that a range of electric cars will be planned under the Ambassador brand. The brand is also expected to a compact SUV or crossover styled vehicle, followed by a premium hatchback. Both the vehicles are expected to share their platform and components with similar sized internal combustion engined car. The engine and some of the mechanical bits will be taken from Citroen which will be launched by 2021 in India. The intent is to make Ambassador a profit-making entity from within the first quarter of the start of sales.

As for the launch timeline, the Ambassador branded range of cars are likely to debut only after 2022. Also, it is not yet decided whether the brand would have a separate retail network or be sold alongside the rest of PSA’s company’s. Talking of which, the upcoming Citroen brand form PSA will have a full-fledged dealer network. It is also being speculated that the Ambassador branded cars are likely to be sold using an exclusive online sales strategy. However, workshops for the two brands will be common.

Along with being sold in India, PSA aims for a global presence of the Ambassador brand too, especially the Commonwealth countries which are mostly Right-Hand-Drive. The company is already studying and examining the export potential of Ambassador badged products from 2023 onwards.

Citroen’s premium brand DS has also announced its range of EVs for Europe, which will use the E-Tense badge. The DS3 Crossback E-Tense is expected to be the one such model picked for the Ambassador brand’s resurrection, and is expected to have a 330-kilometre range.

The Ambassador nameplate has a lot of emotional value in India. Sold earlier by Hindustan Motors, the iconic sedan long remained the best selling car of India. The upcoming onslaught from the modern, frugal and more affordable Japanese cars meant that the sales of the Ambassador went down but it was still quite popular nonetheless. As for PSA Group’s plan for making it an electric brand in India, it is a pretty bold decision but could also give the company a headstart here if the design and pricing of the vehicle are done right. EVs are going to get quite popular in the coming time with the manufacturers and the Government both pushing for them.

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