Bajaj to use Renault's platform

Bajaj Auto, India's leading two-wheeler maker, which is planning launch a four-wheelers in small car segment by year 2012, will be using the Renault platform for the manufacturing of this car. According to Mr Rajiv Bajaj, Bajaj Auto MD, the platform is under development, and it will share common aggregates, catering to requirements of passenger vehicles as well as goods carriers.

Bajaj's four-wheelers are due in 2012 and it will be a new platform. But the project is a common one with Renault, and on a common platform. The basic structure of the vehicle — the engine, transmission, chassis — will be common, Mr Bajaj told reporters while launching two new three-wheeler products in India.

The Nissan-Renault Joint Venture has already invested heavily on their Chennai facility with Bajaj Auto, and the process of producing a new small car in India has already been started. The model will be basically an ultra low cost car, and it will be partially produced at Bajaj's two and three wheeler platform.

Last year, Bajaj had announced that it was gradually phasing out the GC 1000 and Mega brands. RC Maheshwari, CEO, Bajaj Auto’s three-wheeler business, said they have already phased out the GC 1,000 brand four months ago. This model will be replaced by another one to revitalise its three-wheeler line up. This restructuring involves the launch of two new platforms this quarter.