What's in a name?
There are two automobile makes which ply the roads of India and Pakistan, one Mehran and the other Maruti. They are practically identical, both having their provenance in a model developed in the 1970s by the giant Suzuki Corporation of Japan. It is an appropriate commentary on the most tension-ridden geopolitical separation of South Asia, that just as the people of India and Pakistan are more or less alike, so are the popular little cars that they drive. A Pakistani visiting New Delhi thinks he is getting into a Mehran, while an Indian in Karachi thinks it is a Maruti that whisks him away.
It was in 1982 that the Suzuki Corporation started assembling the motorcar in Pakistan. With more than 70 percent of its parts made in Japan and only the assembling done in Pakistan, it was almost as good as an imported car. But far cheaper, and smaller. The 796cc Suzuki Fx, for convenience addressed as 800cc in both India and Pakistan, had the lowest horsepower of any automobile around —and the lowest price. At PKR 45,000, it cost less than half the next cheapest car in the Pakistani market than the 1000cc Daihatsu Charade, priced at over PKR 100,000.
The Suzuki factor revolutionised the automobile industry in South Asia, as millions more in the middle-class could now think of owning a vehicle. The seating capacity may be indicated at four, but who cared when you could fit in six or even eight passengers and head out to the bazaar for ice cream! In Pakistan, the Fx soon became ubiquitous, its small size and easy manoeuverability making it ideal for crowded| city streets and narrow gullies. Everywhere, the roads suddenly became congested.