The RE60 has been given the Qute name plate and the vehicle was unveiled today. It will be exported to 16 countries while the Indian launch will take place once the Supreme Court gives clearance.
The Bajaj RE60 began its journey back at the 2012 Auto Expo as the next step after the three-wheeler, but was faced with heavy scrutiny as competitors questioned its safety while some saw it as a threat to the entry-level small car segment. Nonetheless, three years and several law suits later, quadricycles have been qualified to be used for commercial purposes alone by the government but since the Supreme Court hasn’t given the RE60 a road legality certificate yet, the automaker is unable to launch it in India and thus it will be only exported to 16 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
The vehicle’s name has been changed to Qute now. A basic utilitarian design, the Bajaj Qute is a four-seater (1+3) with doors and seatbelts at the front and rear. Power comes from a a 216 cc single-cylinder water-cooled 4-stroke petrol motor with fuel-injection producing 20 HP of power, paired to a 5-speed gearbox. The quadricycle returns an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency figure of 36 km/l and releases 66 g/km of CO2. Nothing has been mentioned about LPG and CNG variants of the Qute but the price is $2000 (Rs. 1.32 lakhs).
Bajaj Auto has developed the Qute with an investment of Rs. 550 crores and the automaker’s annual production capacity stands at 60,000 units that will easily suffice the demand in export markets. The Qute’s production has already started in Aurangabad and exports will begin immediately. Bajaj more recently also acquired approval from TUV Rheinland India under the European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EU WVTA) Regulations that now make the quadricycle eligible for sale across Europe.
