Bajaj aims a small car with 30km/lt mileage

Bajaj Auto today said it is aiming for a fuel economy of 30 km per litre for the $2,500 ultra low cost car that it is developing with Renault-Nissan as it looks to woo two-wheeler customers.

The ultra low cost car (ULC), which will be competing with Nano, aims to better the mileage of 23.6 km/lt, given by the world's cheapest car from the stable of Tata Motors. On an average the existing small cars in the Indian market give fuel economy of 15-18 km/lt.

"We have been focusing on developing a car (so) that the monthly cost of ownership is low enough to motivate two- wheeler buyers to upgrade into a car. Our aim is to deliver a mileage of 30 km per litre," Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj told reporters here.

He said the company is taking a lot of learnings from its motorcycle experience to come up with a product that would impress customers.
    
"Our experience with motorcycles is that unless there is 50 per cent increase (in mileage), it is not considered good by customers. Our intention is to do a path breaking job with that kind of fuel economy," Bajaj added.
    
Not only the mileage, he said the aim of the company is also to deliver an eco-friendly product that could have the least carbon dioxide emission and replicate what it has been able to achieve in motorcycles.
    
"Indian motorcycles, be it those made by Hero Honda, TVS or Bajaj, they are the greenest in the world. I think the excellent technology that we have in two-wheelers should be brought to four-wheelers," he said.
    
He said most of the cars in India have an average carbon dioxide emission of 140-150 grams/km, while the best in the world are around 110-120 gm/km.
    
"What we are looking at our small car is a double digit level of carbon dioxide emission per kilometre," Bajaj said.
    
Tata Nano has an emission level of 101gm/km, which Tata Motors claims is the lowest among cars in India.
    
On the pricing front, he said Bajaj's aim is to lower the overall cost of ownership, irrespective of how it is priced.
    
On Monday, Bajaj and the Renault-Nissan alliance had said they have agreed at the price of USD 2,500 (Rs 1.1 lakh) for the ULC.
    
Bajaj said the company has "harmonised" the plans to develop a light commercial vehicle with the development of ULC, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2012.