Are low-cost cars forcing Bajaj to launch RE60 outside India?

Bajaj Auto may be finally forced to launch its quadricycle, RE60, outside India, as the company is endlessly waiting for the government’s permission for this type of vehicle.

Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj has said told Business Standard that the company will soon produce the vehicle on pilot basis.

Bajaj Auto is, however, still waiting to hear from its partner Renault-Nissan about the product.

A quadricycle is a four-wheeled vehicle, which is a higher version of an autorikshaw, but not a car.

Bajaj Auto had unveiled its quadricycle in January 2012. The target audience of the product is three-wheeler users.

A report in the Economic Times had earlier quoted sources from quadricycle makers as saying that makers of low-cost cars are lobbying against these vehicles.

According to the report, while cars have to go through a crash test, quadricycles need not. A company executive alleges that makers of low-cost cars are using this as a pretext to term these vehicles unsafe.

The report said the government, which has set up a panel to devise its quadricycle policy, is likely to take more than one year to come out with the guideline.

So it is natural Bajaj Auto, which plans to roll out the vehicle in six months, may have to first launch its quadricycle in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Africa, Egypt and Latin America. The company can easily cash in on its presence in these markets.

“We make about 5,20,000 three-wheelers a year of which only 2,00,000 are sold in India and rest exported. So we see markets like Sri Lanka, which could be the first export market has huge potential for RE60,” Bajaj had said after unveiling the vehicle in January 2012.

The initial plan is to produce 200 RE60s daily.

The product is likely to the marketed as one that can be used for commercial purposes, while internationally quadricycles are personal vehicles.

For the time being, the company will have to wait a while before launching RE60 in India.