Bajaj small car to hit Indian market by 2012

Bajaj Auto, the leading tow-wheeler maker in the Indian market, is working hard with its joint venture partner Nissan-Renault in India to develop an ultra low cost fuel efficient car in the Indian market by year 2012. Mr Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, told the media that the company would launch this small car from its Waluj plant near Aurangabad where it has invested heavily (about Rs 500 crores). He however, denied to provide any other information on this front.

Both Bajaj and Nissan-Renault have been in talks since past two years to develop this India bound low cost small car with an exceptional fuel economy. It has been decided between both the groups that Bajaj Auto will take care of the designing and manufacturing part, whereas the French-Japanese collaboration will look-after the sales, promotions and marketing of the car.

According to an estimate, the cumulative cost of this project will fall about Rs 20,000 crores. With this, about 250 acres of the land has been acquired by the company for this project along with a pending acquisition of more than 100 acres from the government. Bajaj India had recently stated that the new small car will have an exceptional fuel economy of as much as 30 kmpl. After its launch in the Indian market, the new ultra low cost car will be competing with some of the most popular cars in India including Tata Nano and Maruti Alto.