Renault-Nissan, Bajaj plan low-cost cars for Israel

The Renault-Nissan combine is tying up with Bajaj to introduce low-cost cars in Israel, which will cost nearly half of what people are accustomed to paying here, a media report said.

Renault-Nissan is presently working on developing low-cost cars for the price-intolerant Asian market, Ha'aretz reported.

The future car's price for Indian consumers is expected to be around $ 2,500 (around Rs 1 lakh), but it can be sold for NIS 50,000 (Rs 5 lakh) in Israel, Mifram Agencies manager Amir Klein was quoted by the daily as saying.

"Renault-Nissan means to launch the car in Israel in 2009 or 2010," the company's local spokesperson said, adding that the vehicle will comply with European standards.

Many leading car makers feel that the European market is pretty much saturated and have started designing cars that would appeal more to the developing Asian markets, the report said.

However, the magic word there is not "fancy exhaust tail trim," but price, it said. Europe won't lose out from the trend, because inevitably some of the cheap cars will find its way to the continent's markets, and Israel will benefit too, it added.

The Bajaj group's vehicle department boasted a turnover of $936 million in 2006, making it the world's fourth-biggest manufacturer of motorcycles and three-wheeled scooters, the daily said.

Its bikes are exported not only to Asia and South America but to the United States as well, it said.