Bajaj-Renault small car to enter India by 2012 end

In a recent development, Indian automobile giant Bajaj Auto negated the rumors regarding split of Bajaj and French car giant Renault on the small car project. Bajaj Auto said that the JV of companies is working perfectly well and the car will be launched in India market by the end of 2012.

A Senior official of Bajaj Auto reportedly said that currently the designing phase is on and within next three months the complete draft of the small car model will be done and it will be forwarded to Renault team for approval. He further commented that small car will be on road by the end of 2012.

It is worth mentioning that three years ago, Bajaj Auto, Nissan Motors and Renault entered into an agreement to develop a small car to compete with Tata Nano and the small car price will be kept below Rs 2 lakh. According to reports, Bajaj Auto was assigned the task to draft the model, development and manufacturing phase was to be executed by Nissan and Renault.

But after launch of Renault Fluence by Renault India, speculations started floating all around that Renault was not satisfied with the model and the JV was on the verge of a split.

Another official at Bajaj Auto said that Renault team is yet to see the model and therefore the question of being satisfied or unsatisfied is not in scene. Furthermore he said that joint venture of the companies is working perfectly well.

Country Managing Director, Renault India, Marc Nassif is said to have backed the statement that Renault is yet to receive the model and it will be too early to say anything regarding that. Further, he said that company will reply after seeing the model.

It is worth mentioning that Renault India released its luxury sedan Renault Fluence and is planning to release four more car models by the end of 2012.