The Hindu Business Line : Bajaj unveils low-cost car on LITE platform

Features
The car will be marginally smaller than the average small car with a twin-cylinder engine.
Transmission is expected to be a new format semi-automatic version.
Both petrol and diesel variants planned.

Kamal Narang

Made in-house: Mr Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto Ltd, unveiling the concept car in the Capital on Tuesday. The car will be marginally smaller than the size of the average small car and will have a twin-cylinder engine. Both petrol and diesel variants are being planned.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Jan. 8

The ultra compact, so-called $3,000 car segment is set to witness its most high profile unveiling in the Tata People’s car this week.

But, Bajaj, which had announced a tie-up with Renault of France for exploring the possibility of developing a similar passenger car, took the lead and unveiled its own prototype here today.

Bajaj’s prototype of its low-cost car has been developed on a new platform called LITE, the Pune-based company’s common platform for all four-wheelers, including compact light commercial vehicles. The car prototype unveiled here today was developed entirely in-house by Bajaj R&D and the vehicle is currently under various stages of testing.

Speaking at the unveiling here, Mr Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto (BAL), said that the company was conducting a feasibility study to determine the various parameters about the product and further discussions are also expected to be conducted with its partner Renault for finalising the details about investments, manufacturing facilities and so on.

He also mentioned that both the partners are yet to finalise details regarding whether a new joint venture company will be floated, and whether the French partner will take an equity stake in the venture.

The feasibility study that the company is conducting is expected to be completed by next month and the details regarding investment and size of operations would be clear by then. Talking about the expertise that Bajaj will seek from its partner, Mr Bajaj said that technical support for manufacturing, maintaining consistent quality in the manufacturing process are the issues that Renault can bring to the table for the venture. But, more importantly, Bajaj is hoping that Renault can de-risk the project in terms of geographical limitations by taking the vehicle to other markets.

The prototype of the low-cost car is expected to be launched by 2010. “We have a 2-4 year time frame by which a launch of the car will happen,” Mr Bajaj said. The car will be marginally smaller than the size of the average small car of today with a twin-cylinder engine. Both petrol and diesel engine variants are being planned and the transmission is expected to be a new format semi-automatic version, which will be a type of mix between a manual and an automatic.

Bajaj claims that the car will set a new benchmark in terms of fuel economy and offer twice as much as the current crop of small cars. The chassis of the new car will focus on maneuverability and make it useful for intra-city transportation. The platform and the engines and transmission will be commonalised between the new ultra-compact and the new LCVs.