"The first thing I want to make clear is this is not a car but a four-wheeler. I am an anti-car guy and this is a fourwheeler autoricksaw. That is where I am going to position this car. The car will be sold through Bajaj three-wheeler dealerships," Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, said.
The vehicle is powered by a 200 cc rear-mounted petrol engine and will also be available in CNG and LPG variants. It has a top speed of 70 kmph with a mileage of 35 km per litre.
It will be manufactured at the company's Aurangabad plant.
"We have been maintaining since 2009 that we are no longer working on a small car but a four-wheeler. Certainly, this is a product, the core customers for which are those who use a three-wheeler," Bajaj explained.
"This vehicle has been designed for intra-city passenger transport keeping in mind intra-city duty cycles and safety requirements," he added.
However, he refused to divulge details about the price and investment that the firm had made in developing the product.
Bajaj said as a matter of strategy he always looks at developing a product keeping in mind a 20 per cent EBIDTA margin.
Bajaj also did not share sales targets for the new product.
Commenting on the potential of the vehicle, he said the company expects a big growth opportunity by targeting the three-wheeler segment.
"We make about 5,20,000 three-wheelers a year of which only 2,00,000 are sold in India, while the rest are exported. So, we see countries like Sri Lanka, which could be the first overseas market and has a huge potential for RE60," he said.
Bajaj Auto also plans to export the vehicle to Bangladesh and African markets, where Baja Auto already has a presence in the three-wheeler market.
About the company's alliance with Renault- Nissan, Bajaj said, "They have not seen the product as yet and will be seeing it at the auto expo. Once they see it, we will decide the way forward."
He said if the Renault-Nissan alliance is interested, Bajaj can manufacture the RE60 with design modifications to sell it under their brand. In January, 2008 Bajaj Auto had unveiled its concept passenger car with an expected price of $ 3000.
Taking a dig at the Tata Nano Bajaj said, "I am personally not sure what the Nano is. If it is the cheapest car in the world or God's gift to twowheeler (customers)."
Expo turns away 100 firms
More than 100 exhibitors have been denied permission to participate at the forthcoming Auto Expo to be held in Delhi due to space constraint at Pragati Maidan.
The firms have been denied permissions on two criteria - late entry and past history of participation, Auto Expo 2012 Steering Committee chairman Rajive Kaul said, adding that about 60 exhibitors are from overseas countries, while the rest are domestic companies.
The latest edition of the exhibition will be spread across 1.15 lakh sq mt and will now present 1,500 participants from 24 nations, including the US, China, Thailand and Turkey.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bajaj-auto-launches-first-four-wheeler-re60/1/167180.html
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