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| Edited By: Sindhu Bhattacharya |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 30, 2018, 02:53 AM IST
The Renault-Bajaj ultra low cost car (ULC) is being developed with a target of 30 km per litre (kmpl) mileage in mind, apart from low maintenance costs and a price tag of $2,500 (about Rs 1.1 lakh).
Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj said price is just a “tertiary factor” in the overall ULC proposition: mileage and maintenance costs are the two most important factors that would determine the product’s contours.
“We remain very clear that it’s not important if the car is Rs 1 lakh or 1.5 lakh. If 2-wheleer customers have to move up to a 4-wheeler, then monthly cost of ownership should be affordable. We want to make a path-breaking vehicle. Mileage should be at least 30 kmpl. Our experience with bikes shows that unless there is a 50% improvement in power and mileage, customers are not impressed”.
It is interesting to note that the Tata Nano, which is the closest competitor to such a vehicle at present, has ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) certified mileage of 23.6 kmpl.
Bajaj also talked of the ‘green’ quotient of this car, saying his team’s aim was to “deliver on (lower) CO2 emissions too”. He said he hoped to better Nano’s 120 gram per km CO2 emission standard also with the new vehicle.
Originally, the Bajaj ULC was scheduled for launch this year but was subsequently postponed to 2012.
Last year, during his visit to India, Renault boss Carlos Ghosn had announced finalisation of the project and said “as per the agreement, the design, engineering, sourcing and manufacturing will be handled by Bajaj Auto, while marketing and selling will be (done) by Renault-Nissan Alliance.”
The three partners of the ULC project have been struggling to find engineering solutions to produce such a low cost product. In March this year Nissan Motor co executive vice-president Collin Dodge had said, “It is over two years that Bajaj is trying to produce the car. The physics of it is very difficult. We have not yet found a solution as there are a lot of engineering solutions required.”
