Nissan-Renault-Bajaj to sell small car at $2500

The Nissan-Renault joint venture has agreed to price the ultra low cost (ULC) car that they are jointly developing with Bajaj Auto at $2,500, (around Rs 1.10 lakh). The car will be competing with Tata's small sensation Nano in India.

According to Mr Carlos Ghosn, Renault President and CEO Carlos Ghosn, in India, Renault and Nissan are developing an ultra low cost vehicle with the Bajaj group, benefiting from its expertise in the light vehicles and the knowledge of the Indian market. Renault is aiming for a price of $2,500. He was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the company on Friday.

Pricing of this small car was a tricky issue for all of the partners, as it has been widely speculated as the reason for the delay in the project. Where the Renault was keen on the low cost, Bajaj wanted a high mileage and low maintenance car.

The project was announced in year 2008,and was scheduled to be completed by this year, but due to the delay in finalising the issues like pricing and designing, project has been postponed to 2012.

During his India visit last year Mr Ghosn had said that the companies have agreed that, the design, engineering, sourcing and manufacturing will be handled by Bajaj Auto, while marketing and selling will be (done) by Renault-Nissan Alliance. The car is expected to be smaller than Maruti's best selling small car, Maruti Alto.