[airbender]

The wait is almost over.

ULC prototype to be ready by next year | TopNews

[fz_rider]

The second largest two-wheeler company by sales in India, Bajaj Auto which was on course with the development of the ultra low-cost (ULC) car, which had taken an interest in the ULCV model to enter the four-wheeler segment will showcase some of the prototypes to its partner, Renault this calendar year. This was reported by the business daily The Business Line, which quoted Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto as saying ``We are dead serious about the car project. Some time later this year, in fact in a matter of months, we will be able to show Renault the prototypes.’’ The report stated that it was keeping in line with the revised arrangement announced by Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan, during his visit to India in November 2009. Bajaj was then entrusted with the task of designing and manufacturing the ULC car while Renault would market it. Bajaj was quoted as saying “As is well known, till November 2009, things were going in one direction which to me was not the recipe for success. I explained to Mr Ghosn what my apprehensions were and I was fortunate that he understood my point of view and implemented the new plan. The project has undergone a significant change since then.”
There has been several ongoing rumors about the project and Bajaj dispelled those notions saying “We are not hiding anything from Renault and are going exactly by what was discussed between Mr Ghosn and me. I told him that if he wanted frugal engineering, it was best that my people did the project to which he immediately agreed.’’ It was reported that the ball now is in Renault’s court to decide if it wants to be associated with the ULC car after checking out what Bajaj Auto has developed. The vehicle has already been touted as the challenger to the Tata Nano and will kick off with a price tag of around Rs 1.5 lakh. Having been developed ‘with the motorcycle mindset', it is expected to deliver mileage of 30 km to a litre.
The report stated that Rajiv Bajaj said “When Renault sees the car, it is for them to decide if the product goes with their brand or not. From my point of view, it will be great if they accept it. They would only reject it if they felt the product was not resonating with their brand. I would never for a moment associate this with any mala fide intentions on Renault's part. If Renault walks away, we can still sell our own four-wheeler. We would never develop something for someone else, who has a right to walk away, and we are left holding the baby. How can we possibly justify three years of development and have nothing to show for it? That would be the heights of irresponsibility to our shareholders.’’

Source : Bajaj to showcase their small car prototype to Renault this year | WheelsUnplugged

[riteshpawar]

Originally Posted by Gansan

No, not a legend, by any stretch of imagination. It can't hold a candle to the RX 100 or the Shogun, and can't even catch their smoke on the road!

I beg to disagree with you Gansan. I have owned a Kb100 RTZ Delta for past 16 years now and this is one hell of a mean machine to give the RX100 and Shoguns (also the Supras) a competition complex.

During earlier times I have beaten several kids on RX100s and Shoguns hollow during street races. The KB100 has a bhp of just 10.5 at 105 kg while RX100 sitting at 11.8 at 103kg. The pickup of a RX100 was tremendously good however the 2nd and 3rd gear of a KB100 being longer it was an advantage over the RX100.

A KB100 with a bit of dribbling of the clutch would enable the resonator (powerbox on the Delta series) to give a boost to the engine therefore it would shoot between 60kmph - 80 kmph in less than 8 seconds.

Again, 1989 KB100 Delta series bike was the one that gave the competition to the RX100s and Supras from TVS (later known as Shogun).

Unfortunately, the KBs with a longer wheel base were a bit difficult for the sharp cuts between narrow lanes and bumper to bumper traffic scenarios therefore the RX100 scored over them as a result Rx100 became a hardcore bike for the racey bike lovers and the KB100 became more of an executive rider favourite for a more leisurely ride.


The Bajaj small car which is a JV between Bajaj and Renault is a wait and watch scenario. The new car would cost around Rs.1.10 lacs ex-showroom and with a Nissan engine and a Renault design I think it would be a runaway success. However if the technical support would continue to be like what they did to the 115cc Bajaj Calibre or the Eliminator then surely its going to be a complete failure just like what happened to the Daewoo Matiz.

Awesome car, great contours, powerful and fuel efficient engine however the service and aftermarket support was bad and this one flopped big time even though the cost of ownership was cheap.

Co-incidentally the Bajaj - Renualt car looks almost similar to the Daewoo Matiz. It looks like a cross between a Matiz and a Maruti Estillo.

Any comments ??

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by riteshpawar

I beg to disagree with you Gansan. I have owned a Kb100 RTZ Delta for past 16 years now and this is one hell of a mean machine to give the RX100 and Shoguns (also the Supras) a competition complex.

I owned a KB 100 from '89 - 93, the buying and ownership experience of which convinced me never to touch any Bajaj product ever again, not even with a 10 foot pole!

That apart, the best I can say about it is it can be a good commuter - period. But even there not in the league of the Splendor, which is a joy to own 11 years/90,000 KM down the line, still stock! I have owned an AX-100 before the Bajaj, a Shogun and Splendor afterward. If I were to rank my bikes, the Shogun would be first and the KB 100 would be last.

In the early to mid nineties I had an Anglo-Indian friend cum mechanic in Chennai, who serviced all my bikes, since emigrated to Australia. He was factory trained and certified by Yamaha/Suzuki/Bajaj and used to race for Team Libra (yamaha) in the track races and even won the cup on a couple of occassions, his photo splashed on the front pages. Since he was also the foreman in a big bajaj dealership in Chennai, he was enticed (forced) away from his original team and made to race the Enduro bike on the track for a couple of years. Inspite of 110% factory support and his deep well of experience, no matter what modifications he could do to the bike, they never came even close to winning anything. His rankings went for a toss and he used to kick the bike in disgust. "Hopeless case boss, useless engine, fit only to be collected in a basket and sold by weight", he told me once. Oh, sure enough, no bike could come near it on the road - he would run circles around them! But on the track, where it mattered, it was no good.

[pamiboy]

Read somewhere on the web that Bajaj / Nissan/ Renaultsmall car plan is doomed. Apparently Bajaj is planning to launch a commercial vehicle on that platform (Similar to Tata ace zip).

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by pamiboy

Read somewhere on the web that Bajaj / Nissan/ Renaultsmall car plan is doomed. Apparently Bajaj is planning to launch a commercial vehicle on that platform (Similar to Tata ace zip).

From what I know, the smal car project is very much alive at Bajaj and the first prototype should be making an appearance soon.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by pamiboy

Read somewhere on the web that Bajaj / Nissan/ Renaultsmall car plan is doomed. Apparently Bajaj is planning to launch a commercial vehicle on that platform (Similar to Tata ace zip).

Here is the report pamiboy which you ought to be referring to:

Bajaj Ultra Low Cost car project halted

[srishiva]

Bajaj is making a commercial product on that platform. Renault will use the same platform for a car. So there will be a car. If its not a low cost car as mentioned, dont know what is the USP of the car.

[infotech58]

If we just go by the looks, this car sure (as shown in the wheelsunplugged link) looks better than a NANO.

But my personal opinion is that we need an electric car which is reliable enough for intercity commute (at least for small/midsize cities) and is sold at a price point of NANO. May be I'm expecting too much.

[zalaps]

Bajaj Auto is planning to set up its fourth and largest plant near the Mundra port in Gujarat. The plant will also manufacture the long-awaited passenger car the company is developing with Nissan-Renault. The five million unit per annum plant will initially require an investment of over Rs 1,000 crore. Bajaj plans to export at least 60 per cent production from there.

Team led by Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj will visit Gujarat towards the end of the month for talks with the officials there. “We are looking to build our fourth plant in Gujarat near the Mundra port. Our capacity is enough till only the middle of the year and we need to expand. We will build our four-wheeler facility, including for passenger cars, there,” said Bajaj.
Bajaj Auto’s move to look outside Maharashtra, its base, comes after a 15-month dispute with the state government, which has held back its Rs 1,100-crore sales tax refund from April 2010.

Instead, last week, the government slapped a Rs 600-crore notice on the company for non-payment of sales tax for 2009-10. Bajaj executives say the company has challenged the notice in the tribunal.

Bajaj said the company’s move was prodded by the non-payment of the refund. “The chairman of the company (Rahul Bajaj) wrote to Ajit Pawar, who looks after the finance portfolio of the state, in January. We did not get even an acknowledgement of the letter. We are not such a big company that we can take a hit of over Rs 1,000 crore,” said Bajaj.

Bajaj says the company is losing Rs 153 crore per annum interest on the money, which is reflected in lower non-operating revenues and profits. The money, he said, could have been used as working capital, for which the company was paying a huge interest.

“We extended a Rs 200-crore bank guarantee to the state government from State Bank of India in May so that it could release a part of the amount. This did not happen. We were told that their computers can process only up to Rs 99 crore,” said Bajaj.

Source: Bajaj zeroes in on Mundra for 4th plant

[SunilM]

Originally Posted by zalaps

Bajaj Auto is planning to set up its fourth and largest plant near the Mundra port in Gujarat. The plant will also manufacture the long-awaited passenger car the company is developing with Nissan-Renault. The five million unit per annum plant will initially require an investment of over Rs 1,000 crore. Bajaj plans to export at least 60 per cent production from there.
Source: Bajaj zeroes in on Mundra for 4th plant

This is so confusing - once they say the car is off the list and now they are planning a huge capacity plant for it in Gujarat! Or maybe this is just a posturing to get the 1000 crore due from MH Govt.

[aryashiv1]

Just saw Hormaz tweets - "Scoop! Bajaj Small car launch on 3rd Jan at Taj Palace in Delhi.
Thats really a news.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by SunilM

This is so confusing - once they say the car is off the list and now they are planning a huge capacity plant for it in Gujarat! Or maybe this is just a posturing to get the 1000 crore due from MH Govt.

Can't get it. How come MH govt pay 1000 crores for a plant in Gujarat. Or is a MH govt policy to promote industrialists from MH

Originally Posted by aryashiv1

Just saw Hormaz tweets - "Scoop! Bajaj Small car launch on 3rd Jan at Taj Palace in Delhi.
Thats really a news.

If Hormazd says then it is going to be a wait to january 3rd.

Originally Posted by riteshpawar

The Bajaj small car which is a JV between Bajaj and Renault is a wait and watch scenario. The new car would cost around Rs.1.10 lacs ex-showroom and with a Nissan engine and a Renault design I think it would be a runaway success. However if the technical support would continue to be like what they did to the 115cc Bajaj Calibre or the Eliminator then surely its going to be a complete failure just like what happened to the Daewoo Matiz.

Ad Bajaj's Saffire scooter also to the list.

[volkman10]

Here is the scoop!
"Bajaj will unveil its much awaited small car on January 3, 2012 at the Taj Palace hotel in New Delhi in the run-up to the Auto Expo. The production ready car from Bajaj which will be showcased at Pragati Maidan comes four years after the original concept was shown at the Auto Expo in 2008."

Bajaj to unveil small car on Jan 3 - News - Autocar India

[rajeev k]

The scoop appears true but the picture shown in the above link is that of the concept car showcased in Auto Expo 2008