The much awaited Renault-Nissan-Bajaj alliance seems to have tanked as the companies have failed to reach an agreement on the ULC car project. Over three years ago, Renault-Nissan had shown interest in Bajaj’s ultra low cost car project and had given its word to buy it from Bajaj, if they liked the production version. However after the RE60 was unveiled last month and the people from Renault-Nissan saw it, they have not given any response to Bajaj Auto. Naturally the French automaker is disappointed that the Bajaj RE60 did not match up to their expectation of a low cost car. Meanwhile, the Tata Nano can rejoice.
The Bajaj RE60 had created a quite a buzz even before the expo began. The small car from the Bajaj stable has been at the centre of the discussion in the sub-small car category after Nano was everyone’s darling at the last auto expo. But all that speculation was put to rest when Bajaj launched the RE60. They still ain’t calling it a ‘car’ but has categorically said it’s a commercial vehicle and an upgrade from the rickshaw. Tata can heave a sigh of relief. Powered by a 200cc DTSi engine, borrowed from Pulsar, mileage has been quoted at 35kmpl. And for those who’s still wondering what does RE60 stands for; RE is Rear Engined and 60 is the emission figure of the vehicle (60g per km of CO2).
