The name could help the French automaker to win over India's car buyers who don't recognize the company's Peugeot brand.

 

"You can imagine us adding this name for a brand for PSA, which is not so famous in India as the Ambassador is," a PSA spokesman told Automotive News Europe.

 

PSA paid Hindustan Motors, part of the CK Birla Group, 800 million rupees [$12 million] for the name, a CK Birla spokesman told local media.

 

The Hindustan Ambassador sedan is arguably India's most famous vehicle by dint of its impressively long production run from 1957 until 2014. The design of car, based on a Morris Oxford Series III, remained largely unchanged throughout its life. However, demand dwindled in its final years as buyers turned to smaller, more modern cars from automakers such as Suzuki and Hyundai.

 

PSA has not disclosed any plans for potential Ambassador but reviving the name for a low-cost brand is one possibility, IHS principal analyst Ian Fletcher said. However, that might not be the correct decision.