If Renault walks away (from Bajaj’ ULC), 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.
Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto added after he revealed that Renault will be shown ULC prototypes his company developed later this year.
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.
There has been considerable development on the four-wheeler so far. Last month, Renault executives were here, and we have shared all the work with them, be it styling, prototyping and testing. In fact, we have heard from them, after they went back to France, that they are satisfied. So, we have said 2012 (for the launch) and we are on course.
Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj talks about the on-going Bajaj ULC project to Business Standard.
By Mahir Majid
The Ultra low Cost car being developed by Bajaj-Nissan-Renault is starting to take shape literally, as the French car maker has announced news of completing the prototype of the car by early 2011.
The Bajaj ULC project being jointly developed by Renault-Nissan-Bajaj has been delayed on numerous occasions due to lack of consensus between the partners on issues like design and powertrain development.
An agreement was reached where the ULC, smaller than the Suzuki Alto, will be completely developed and manufactured by the Indian 2-wheeler giant Bajaj and the branding and marketing will be taken care by Renault and Nissan.
The pricing of this car will be cheaper than Tata’s Nano, it has been said it in the past. But will it be an extreme value for money as hinted by Mr. Rajiv Bajaj MD of Bajaj Auto, which is famous for introducing bikes like the Pulsar which truly revolutionized the Indian two-wheeler space?
The Bajaj Pulsar, without a shadow of doubt was the bike that brought rugged styling and things like power and performance to the commuter bike market.
We at IAB hope that this new car is as ground breaking as the Pulsar was in the early 2000s, it shouldn’t be a cheap car made on a serious budget constraint. Rather it should be the affordable car, fun-to-drive car that has more than just a compact chassis, a compact engine and compact expectations.
Here is a rendering of what the Renault-Nissan-Bajaj ULC small car could possible look like. Though the car looks very close to the Maruti Suzuki Ritz, the rendering depicts a small hatchback with simple lines carrying Renault’s design theme.
The ULC project is on track and the MoU has been signed between Bajaj and Renault-Nissan. The Ultra Low Cost (ULC) small car would be designed and manufactured by Bajaj but Renault-Nissan would be branding & selling the car in India and foreign markets.
The Renault-Nissan-Bajaj ULC is expected to be priced around 1.17 lakh Rupees in India and launched by 2012. Renault could be taking the car to European markets in 2013 to compete against the Tata Nano Europa. The European version of the ULC could cost 5000 Euros (3 lakh Rupees) for the added safety equipment and features for the European market.
The Renault-Nissan-Bajaj ULC small car would be the only one to challenge the Tata Nano with GM India withdrawing its Tata Nano rival project and planning to build a Maruti Alto rival instead.
Renault-Nissan has announced that it has signed a pact with Indian bike maker Bajaj on Thursday, 8 July 2010 for developing a small car (the Ultra Low Cost- ULC car). This announcement from Renault-Nissan has put an end to all the rumors about the ULC small car project being dropped due to a rift between the two companies.
We had reported yesterday that there wouldn’t be a joint venture between Renault-Nissan and Bajaj on this front but it wold be more like a MoU bet ween the two companies. It would be more like an OEM agreement.
While Bajaj would be in charge of designing, developing and manufacturing the ULC small car, Renault-Nissan would take care of branding, marketing and distribution. Renault-Nissan would also be exporting the car to other developing countries once the car is launched in India.
The Renault-Nissan-Bajaj small car would hit the market sometime in 2012 and could be priced at 1.17 lakh Indian Rupees (US$ 2,500). The ULC small car would be pitted against the Tata Nano.
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The Bajaj-Renault ULC planned for India in the next couple of years, could be branded as Dacia for certain European markets, a Swedish website suggests.
The Swedish website “vi bilagare” reports the Dacia ULC will be a direct competitor for the Tata Nano and will head to Europe in 2013. The European Dacia ULC could cost under 5,000 Euros. For less than 5,000 Euros, features such as electric windows, cd player and power locks won’t feature on the vehicle.
Interestingly, Dacia is also working on another small car dubbed by the European media as “Dacia City.” This is an urban runabout, measuring 3.5 metres and uses the Nissan Micra’s 1.2-liter petrol engine. It will have four seats and four doors, and many of the Logan’s components will be used in building this automobile.
We don’t look for a connection between the ULC and City, but Renault could re-brand Dacia products for India. This activity could start with Duster and many future Dacia vehicles can be bought in India as Renaults. Would the Dacia city, with familiar Logan underpinnings, be built in India in the future?
