[Theyota]

He asked for examples of "commercial" vehicles. That's why I skipped the Nano. Nano was not really built to be a commercial vehicle.

[i_see]

Bajaj seems to have aggressively stepped up the campaign!

This is what I saw in the Economic Times webpage,


Honestly I want to know what do Bhpians think? On one hand it can be safer auto rickshaw, providing safe and weather proof last mile public commute or it can become a menace on the road(much bigger than 3 wheeled autos & kamikaze bikers)

[shankar.balan]

What is preventing the Government from allowing this little Bug Car to launch in India when it already seems to have launched itself abroad?
With all this Make in India and the rest of the rhetoric, why doesn't the Govt start practicing what it preaches?
This Bajaj Qute looks quite practical.

http://www.storypick.com/bajaj-qute-india-2/

Internet Marketing efforts such as that signified by the link above, seem quite aggressive of late. This is the 3rd such campaign I ve seen in the last 10 days...

Of course, I have supported it on FB and elsewhere.
It is a good concept.

[Aditya]

The Bajaj Qute has scored just 1 star in crash tests conducted by the Euro NCAP. The quadricycle managed to score only 28% in adult occupant safety.

According to the report, in the frontal crash test, the Qute's structure was judged to be unstable. Many spot welds had released and deformation of the structure indicated that it could not have withstood a higher degree of loading. There were no signs of deformation to any mounting points for the seat belt or buckle.

In the side impact test, the door on the struck side became detached from the A-pillar as the door structure detached from the hinges.

In the frontal impact, despite modest rearward and upward movement of the steering wheel, the dummy’s head made contact with the centre of the steering wheel. The Qute does not have frontal airbags. The findings indicate a high probability of serious or fatal injury in a human as a result of this contact.

Protection of the neck was rated as good. However, together with the unstable structure, the contact with the rim of the steering wheel gave high chest compressions and the protection offered to this area of the body was rated as poor. Protection of the knee, femur and pelvis was also rated as poor owing to the presence of hard structures below the dashboard.

In the side impact test, the force with which the head struck the side roof rail indicated a high probability of serious or fatal injury due to the lack of a side curtain airbag or padding in this area. Similarly, dummy readings of lateral rib compression were high and protection of the chest was rated as poor. Protection of the abdomen was rated as marginal and that of the pelvis was good.

Quadricycles built by other manufacturers have also scored poorly in crash tests conducted by Euro NCAP.

[The Rationalist]

I would have welcomed the Qute if it was intended to replace the autorickshaw. But as a personal car, this shouldn't be allowed. Can it comply with the safety regulations that are coming up? What is the intended use that Bajaj is claiming?

[RSR]

As far as quadricycles go, the Bajaj Qute's crash test performance is on par with many other quadricycles sold in Europe. Most of them have fared quite poorly indeed.

Euro-NCAP crash test ratings for quadricycles are completely different from those meant for cars. The crash tests themselves are far less stringent than those used for cars, and the ratings are also given only for adult occupants in front seat.

Euro-NCAP quadricycle ratings should never be compared with Euro-NCAP car ratings or other NCAP car ratings.

Euro NCAP currently bases the star ratings of quadricycles only on the protection they offer to adult occupants in the front seats. In the future, other components may be added to the assessment, such as child and pedestrian protection and driver assistance features.

Two full-scale crash tests are done: a full-width frontal impact at 50km/h against a deformable element; and a side impact test, also at 50km/h, in which a deformable barrier is driven into the side of the vehicle.

The maximum score in each test is the same (16 points). The scores are added and the percentage of the maximum is calculated. Based on this percentage, the star rating is determined

While these are severe tests for quadricycles, they are far less stringent than those for passenger cars.

Quadricycle star ratings should be used only for comparison within this category of vehicles.

Comparison with other star ratings is not valid.

One must keep the above in mind at all times. Bajaj are trying very hard to market the Qute as an equivalent to a car, and even foolishly claim the Qute betters normal cars (even Mercs!) on certain aspects (such as having two spark plugs per cylinder). They should never be allowed to market the Qute as being safer than the NCAP 0* cars currently sold in India.

[Dragonheart22]

We need to read this to understand the Euro-NCAP ratings for quadricycles and the current state of the best Quadricycles selling in Europe

https://www.theaa.com/motoring_advic...ycle-test.html

Probably the best rated quadricycle from a major auto manufacturer still scores only 37.5 pc in comparison to Qute' 28 pc

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

What is preventing the Government from allowing this little Bug Car to launch in India when it already seems to have launched itself abroad?
With all this Make in India and the rest of the rhetoric, why doesn't the Govt start practicing what it preaches?
This Bajaj Qute looks quite practical.

.

The govt is not preventing it from launch.
Bajaj calls it a quadricycle, and supposedly wants relaxed safety and other norms for this. Bajaj simply does not want to sell is as a 'passenger car'.
On the other hand, Govt refuses to call this a quadricycle. They simply see it as a passenger car.
This has created a deadlock situation.

[johannskaria]

Originally Posted by RSR

[i]
Euro-NCAP quadricycle ratings should never be compared with Euro-NCAP car ratings or other NCAP car ratings.

Eventhough I agree with you on the above point, approving Qute on the basis of that would be like taking one step forward and then taking two steps backward on safety front. The Highway stability and the general safety is no better than in the autorickshaw, which is really terrible. Imagine Qute being driven on the Mumbai - Pune expressway and a family in it, or for that matter as Taxi ferrying people to Pune. When the Indian safety standard norms on cars make them expensive and out of reach for common people, economic empowerment may force them dangerously towards the above discussed form of transportation away from the other form of Public transportation. (Buses, trains , etc...)

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by johannskaria

approving Qute on the basis of that would be like taking one step forward and then taking two steps backward on safety front. The Highway stability and the general safety is no better than in the autorickshaw, which is really terrible.

Bang on the money. Here's the crash test video of the Qute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hT6eyHnx1s

Just being safer than an autorickshaw is a very low bar. We as a people need to demand more accountability from vehicle manufacturers. I am pretty sure that some people would end up buying a new Qute than a second hand Nano when given the option.

[RSR]

Don't say you weren't warned!

I was expecting exactly this, and it has happened just as I had expected, and warned you in advance.

Shame on you, Bajaj Auto, for trying to blatantly mislead people with the supposed "safety" offered by the Qute!

No one is fooled by Bajaj Auto's stupid antics! They are most shamelessly trying to claim the 1* quadricycle rating of the Qute is "superior" to the 0* passenger car rating of the Nano, Alto, i10, Figo & Polo.

It said, "The Bajaj Qute was accorded a 1 (one) star rating, superior to the 0 (zero) star rating of popular cars including the VW Polo, Ford Figo, Hyundai i10, Maruti Alto, and Tata Nano."

Source & more: http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report...icycle-2199260

Can it get any more misleading and shameless than this?

The respect I have for Bajaj Auto is slowly & steadily diminishing, thanks to their ugly antics to promote the Qute as an equivalent to (or even better than!) proper cars like the Nano etc. (even the Polo!)

Originally Posted by RSR

Euro-NCAP crash test ratings for quadricycles are completely different from those meant for cars. The crash tests themselves are far less stringent than those used for cars, and the ratings are also given only for adult occupants in the front seat.

Euro-NCAP quadricycle ratings should never be compared with Euro-NCAP car ratings or other NCAP car ratings.

One must keep the above in mind at all times. Bajaj are trying very hard to market the Qute as an equivalent to a car, and even foolishly claim the Qute betters normal cars (even Mercs!) on certain aspects (such as having two spark plugs per cylinder).

They should never be allowed to market the Qute as being safer than the NCAP 0* cars currently sold in India.

[ashwin1224]

Bajaj is just trying to pass off another poorly designed product disguised in a marketing gimmick. First the multiple spark plugs in a single cylinder engine[ how poorly is your piston and cylinder designed if you cant get efficient combustion from a single plug] and now calling this poorly designed car a "Quadricycle".

It is admittedly ALOT safer than the three wheeled death traps from hell currently plying our roads in huge numbers. But as some one else said its like taking one step forward and two steps backward. When the safety technologies have evolved so much, why not use them? This just shows how poorly Bajaj (and the public in general) think of a human life, its just not that valuable for them.

What Bajaj should do is let KTM handle the Qute and maybe we can get a Quke690. Would be amazingly fast, loaded with tech safety features and not even cost a bomb lol.

Also, noticed protection ratings for various body parts and looks like Bajaj only focused on saving their butts

[VinodDevil81]

Originally Posted by RSR

Bajaj are trying very hard to market the Qute as an equivalent to a car, and even foolishly claim the Qute betters normal cars (even Mercs!) on certain aspects (such as having two spark plugs per cylinder). They should never be allowed to market the Qute as being safer than the NCAP 0* cars currently sold in India.

I Fully Agree to that. It is such a shame that Bajaj is trying to fool people with such stupid claims.How can they claim that this 4-wheeled auto rickshaw is safer than proper cars like Polo or Figo just because of that one-star rating it got as a quadricycle ?

I think Bajaj's strategy is clear now. Inspite of calling their product a quadricycle, (even though it doesn't look like one with all that car-like metallic enclosed structure and all) Bajaj wants to somehow market this product as a cheap alternative to regular cars.That is the only reason why they made their quadricycle more car-like. If not, why else should they compare it with regular cars and that too in terms of safety?

They could have already started selling this product here, if they did not go through all this quadricycle-drama and launched this product as a straight-forward successor to their 3-wheeled auto-rickshaw.

A point to be noted here is that Tata has already launched such a four-wheeled product called Magic-iris and they are selling it as a four-wheeled alternative to auto-rickshaws without any problems.They did not play the quadricycle drama and neither did they ever mention that their product can replace cars in any aspect.Hence they could start selling it across the country without any such issues.

I think Bajaj should get over this identity crisis and position its product correctly to where it belongs.They can do what Tata did and sell some decent numbers every month.But if they want to make it a "cheap alternative to cars", I don't think it will work out. Remember the nano's fate. Ours is a country where a car with the tag-line "cheap" attached to it will never succeed.

[RSR]

Global NCAP reacts to Bajaj's claim

Thankfully, Global NCAP has reacted to the highly misleading claim by Bajaj's spokesperson:

Taking exception to Bajaj portraying the 1 star rating in Euro NCAP crash test as a positive development, Global NCAP secretary general David Ward has said that he was "surprised to read that a spokesman for Bajaj was reportedly 'delighted' with the one star score."

...

Ward in the letter said that it is not correct for Bajaj to compare Qute's test results to Global NCAP's test results of Indian passenger cars suggesting that the Qute had performed better than cars with a zero star result.

"To make such a comparison is misleading and wrong. The Euro NCAP quadricycle test uses a full frontal impact at 50 kmph whereas Global NCAP's passenger car tests use a 40 percent overlap impact at 64 kmph. The latter is a much tougher test and should not be used as a relevant comparison," said Ward.

Rajiv Bajaj is denying they made such a misleading claim, by stating that they did not imply quadricycles and cars are subjected to the same tests. (The ealier claim by Bajaj's spokesperson was that the Qute's 1* quadricycle rating was "superior" to the 0* rating of popular cars.)

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-ncap/51746245

[johannskaria]

German carmaker Volkswagen today hit out at Bajaj Auto for putting out "misleading" information regarding Global NCAP safety rating for its premium hatch Polo saying the statement issued by the two-wheeler major is "incorrect and without merit".

Rebuffing Bajaj Auto's claims, Volkswagen India said in a statement: "The information issued by Bajaj Auto Ltd with reference to Volkswagen Polo NCAP rating is misleading, incorrect and without merit."

The car maker said that contrary to the claim made by Bajaj Auto, the Global NCAP has given a 4-star rating for its Polo carline in India.

Economictimes aritcle