Renault-Nissan and Bajaj team up for USD2,500 car
The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Bajaj Auto will form a new joint-venture in India, held 50% by Bajaj Auto, 25% by Renault and 25% by Nissan. The new joint venture will develop and produce a new low cost car called the ULC, which would have a price tag of USD2,500 onwards. Not sure what ULC stands for at this moment, but I’m guessing something to the lines of Ultra Low Cost.
The Bajaj ULC will most likely be a production version of the Bajaj Lite concept car (shown above) displayed at the New Delhi Auto Show earlier this year. The Bajaj Lite concept featured a 2-cylinder engine and driven to the wheels via what Bajaj says is a new type of transmission that is a cross between a manual and an automatic.
That sounds like a manual with a computer controlled clutch like the Savvy’s AMT gearbox to me, but we’ll see what Bajaj has up its sleeves. Could a centrifugal clutch like a bike’s (Bajaj is a bike maker) be used on a car? Actually, it has been used in the past, but we’re talking about cars from the 1930s here.
Bajaj managing director Rajiv Bajaj was quoted referring to the Lite concept to say, “It will be priced competitively but not sell on the pricing. Offering the customer twice the fuel economy is more effective than offering half the price.â€
Two more photos of the Bajaj Lite concept after the jump.
May 13, 2008 @ 5:12 am
couldnt thy find a more attractive name ??
im imaging this and the Nano is gonna fill up india’s roads ONLY
i seriously doubt this gonna have a significant market elsewer….
May 13, 2008 @ 5:26 am
one thing for sure , this babe is much more better then the TATA Nano.
is it just me or what, it look very similar to Hyundai Atos.
May 13, 2008 @ 6:44 am
Hyundai atos design. Why on earth the logo look like Suzuki’s? Bajak.
May 13, 2008 @ 7:35 am
Its totally looks like a rebadged Atos.
The dash got aircon vents on the sides, but where’s the climate control knobs? Looks like this car only offers aircon as an option.
May 13, 2008 @ 8:46 am
Race to the bottom? The Nano is the equivalent of the Asus EEE of the car world. Better products will come around. You or I might not aspire to own one of these, but its good for consumers in general.
This is not much unlike our base Kancils. So I don’t understand why some people will “kutuk” cars like this.
When our pettrol prices hits $3/litre, I would take a gander that nissan could see it feasible to bring this in. Most people don’t need a full sized car. I wouldn’t mind driving these for short stints. Between my fiancee and me, we have 3 cars which we drive depending on the needs.
May 13, 2008 @ 9:35 am
Hey, i think it looks very nice! Nice ‘pocket’ car, where you don’t wanna spend too much fuel to go to the nasi kandar outlet
May 13, 2008 @ 10:10 am
rear design look like hyundai atos but I think, This type of car sure berkecai kalau kena langgar lori tanah if they do not really focus on car safety & security..
May 13, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
Look where the gear knob is…weird…i think its gona be amt..push up n down .. if not it will be difficult to change gear…
May 13, 2008 @ 1:57 pm
its hard to make a cheap car with safety feature…
May 13, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
very very small…..
but agree, looks like Atos….
May 13, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
budget ULC indeed!
May 13, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
OMG look at the front bumper…. nice~!
i would pick this car over viva (and the nano),.. debadge it, and put in removable rollcage,.. and a nice garmin GPS behind the steering… lol~!
dude, even the steering got chrome trimming,.. unlike some car manufacturer there.. there… (^_^)v
May 13, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
hhhmmm, is there really such a big boom in market for these kinds of cars in India? Just wondering coz Toyota doesnt seem to be in the act. Anywayz as usual underinformed and rash comments here once again from crash test experts and market analyst wannabes. Comeonlah, u kno how Indian traffic works ah? In Bolehland, even with cars dat have ABS,EBD,BFD, ABCDEFG… morons crash. But driving in India is almost lawless and u can really see skills there on cars without any gizmos. Bolehlanders always think we hav achieved everything but dats bullshit coz anyone who has seen Proton’s balance sheet will know Proton is crap at running bussines. Dont argue this point with me, I will accept none. Even as fuel prices rocket, we can find creative solutions but we got budget to put a bloke in space. So when carmakers make an everyones car, dun try to be JClarkson n kutuk coz u guys suck at it.
May 13, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
I think the build quality is barebones in that model. I think Kancil has more refinement than this model. It may be a luxury model compared to the Nano, but I don’t like it. There seems to be no rear boot space, if thats the rear seats touching the window. Maybe can use it for a golf buggy or something
May 13, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
wow! what a price! boleh bwak pegi sekolah?
May 13, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
mystvearn said,
May 13, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
I think the build quality is barebones in that model. I think Kancil has more refinement than this model
—-
You probably haven’t driven the first generation base Kancil (that sold for 24k mind you). With a 4 speed auto, no radio, one sun visor, and no glove box, no rear parcel shelf….and… oh yeah, PVC covered cardboard for interior door panels…..
Damn reliable though, still have it runnin without any issues for 10 years now. Good city car. Can’t complain for a free car……my views of it would be skewed if I had to pay 24k asking price for it.
This Bajaj looks light years ahead…and at a fraction of the price.
Paul Tan says: I thought Kancil autos are 3-speed?
May 13, 2008 @ 10:40 pm
4 speed manual!
May 14, 2008 @ 12:09 am
wah, competitor to Tata nano.
still, we have to see what they can do.
May 14, 2008 @ 9:15 am
It’s way better than Nano. Maybe it’s good enough for the Indian market.
May 14, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
If it is sold cheaper than a kancil, why not? I could us it as a 3rd car, to run errands within a 5-10km radius of my house. Beats riding a motorbike in the hot sun and rain. Also a car for college going children.