Indian Autos blog

The Nano sales numbers has sounded a siren and companies have second thoughts of entering this segment. But one man is still going strong – Rajiv Bajaj Managing Director, Bajaj Auto. Instead of going back to the drawing board or backing off a little, he is in fact on full throttle with his low cost car.

His words exude aggression and confidence in his plans. Here is his press statement

Rajiv Bajaj, MD Bajaj Auto -

We are actually emboldened by what we have been seeing so far with the Nano and believe that our own brand strategy is spot-on. I am very upbeat about our car’s prospects despite what the doomsday prophets say

The Bajaj ULC is a part of a joint venture with Renault-Nissan, which is scheduled to be launched in 2012 with a base price of about Rs 1.5 lakh and going upwards. The head honcho also confirmed that the ULC will not sport a Bajaj badge neither will it have a Renault or a Nissan badge.

The ULC will instead have a new brand created for itself and the key USP will be its fuel economy. Bajaj is targeting a mileage of at least 30 km to a liter (Forget the Nano, it is actually more fuel efficient than a some bikes currently running on the streets.)

Tata Motors has faced plenty of speed breakers since the unveiling at the Auto Expo. An unusual booking process, cars catching fire and an unprecedented shift in plant location are a few dampeners in the Nano project.

Is Bajaj Auto being hopelessly optimistic about this project? Or has Rajiv Bajaj sunk his teeth so deep in the project that it is very difficult pull out now? Or are we really missing something? Is there still value at the bottom of the pyramid that he is able to see?

What do you think?

It doesn’t make sense to sell just 20,000 cars, when we will sell 4 million two-wheelers this year. Unless you sell 2 lakh a year of the small car, you don’t break even.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit, Bajaj Auto Chairman, Mr Rahul Bajaj remarked on the low-cost car project his company is part of with Renault-Nissan.

Just when we assumed that the race for manufacturing cheap cars was starting to settle down, up comes another announcement. Automobiles Planet is reporting that Rahul Bajaj, chief of Bajaj Autos, announced yesterday that Bajaj will manufacture a 4-wheeler apart from the ULC (Ultra Low Cost) or Bajaj Lite that was showcased at the Delhi AutoExpo earlier this year. We naturally assume that he’s talking about a car, as he  [ Read More ]

French manufacturer Renault Motors is designing the entry-level low cost car (codenamed ULC) that it going to be rolled out jointly with Nissan Motors and Bajaj Auto from their Chakan unit in Maharashtra by 2011. The final shape of the car has already been decided and the French automaker’s team will continue its styling until its production. The finishing touches will be done by the Boulogne-Billancourt-based company’s Mumbai design centre.  [ Read More ]