Bajaj’s small car that was showcased at the 2008 Auto Expo will not debut on the scheduled date. The car was earlier announced to make its debut by 2011 but now it may see a delay of five to six months. It is said that the company is not content with the design and positioning of the proposed ultra-low-cost car. The project will start from the scratch as the older project insisted on major alteration in terms of design and other details.
It is sad to know that the teams who worked over a year to finalise the project will have to begin from the sketch. It is also speculated that the project could see further delay due to technical hitches as well as the financing problems at Renault’s end.
During the tie-up stage between the three car manufacturers, it was decided that the power train, platform development, and supply lines would be provided by Bajaj whereas Renault-Nissan will chip in with design and engineering for the ‘small car’ project.
Carrying a little higher price tag, this new car is expected to offer better performance and mileage compared to its rival Nano.
Why is there such a long delay? Does the joint venture have any kind of issues among the partnership or it that the venture wants the market to completely recover before they launch their low-cost cars. I don’t think that the company should wait for that. If they wont launch the car there would be no excitement in the market to drive sales which wont let the market recover at all. There are many car manufacturers that are launching their new cars in the market so that they can push car sales and they are doing what they wanted.