Bajaj will market the RE60 using an attractive price tag and cheap running costs as USPs. Will rivals launch their offerings before Bajaj launches the RE60?
The Bajaj RE60 is one such vehicle who’s launch has been getting delayed infinitely. The RE60 was first shown to the public during the 2012 Auto Expo and after that the Indian manufacturer has been carrying out thorough testing of this quadricycle. For such a low-cost vehicle, the only USPs will be its price and fuel efficiency. Bajaj has a hell lot of experience in the Indian market and hence pricing the RE60 is not going to be tough for them. However, the company also aims to extract the best fuel economy from this small vehicle and hence a CNG variant will also be available.
The Bajaj RE60 quadricycle was supposed to be launched in October 2014 but due to reasons best known to Bajaj themselves, the launch has been getting delayed a lot. The quadricycle is powered by a 216cc, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that gives out around 20 HP of power. The engine comes mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. It has been learnt that the CNG variants of the RE60 are claimed to churn out a healthy fuel efficiency of 40 km/kg. While this figure may not be true under daily conditions, it is highly possible that the RE60 will generate around 35 km/kg of mileage on gas since it is very light in weight.
With CNG costs hovering around Rs. 44/- in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, this type of fuel efficiency results in very low running costs of Rs. 1.25/- per km approximately. Now it remains to be seen when Bajaj finally launches the RE60 and whether this quadricycle will be able to replace our three-wheeled auto rickshaws or not. In other news, due to the delay in launch caused by Bajaj, rivals like Piaggio, Mahindra and Tata have started working on their own versions of quadricycles to rival the RE60.
Source – AutocarIndia.com