Bajaj small car aims at mileage of 30 km per litre

Bajaj Auto on Wednesday said it is aiming for a fuel economy of 30 km per litre for the $2,500 ultra low-cost car that it is developing with Renault-Nissan as it looks to woo two-wheeler customers.

The ultra low cost car (ULC), which will be competing with Nano, aims to better the mileage of 23.6 km/lt, given by the world's cheapest car from the stable of Tata Motors.

On an average the existing small cars in the Indian market give fuel economy of 15-18 km/lt.

"We have been focusing on developing a car (so) that the monthly cost of ownership is low enough to motivate two-wheeler buyers to upgrade into a car. Our aim is to deliver a mileage of 30 km per litre," Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the company is taking a lot of learnings from its motorcycle experience to come up with a product that would impress customers.

"Our experience with motorcycles is that unless there is 50 per cent increase (in mileage), it is not considered good by customers. Our intention is to do a path-breaking job with that kind of fuel economy," Bajaj added.

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Not only the mileage, he said the aim of the company is also to deliver an eco-friendly product that could have the least carbon dioxide emission and replicate what it has been able to achieve in motorcycles.

"Indian motorcycles, be it those made by Hero Honda, TVS or Bajaj, they are the greenest in the world. I think the excellent technology that we have in two-wheelers should be brought to four-wheelers," he said.

Bajaj small car aims at mileage of 30 km per litre

He said most of the cars in India have an average carbon dioxide emission of 140-150 grams/km, while the best in the world are around 110-120 gm/km.

"What we are looking at our small car is a double digit level of carbon dioxide emission per kilometre," Bajaj said.

Tata Nano has an emission level of 101gm/km, which Tata Motors claims is the lowest among cars in India.

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On the pricing front, he said Bajaj's aim is to lower the overall cost of ownership, irrespective of how it is priced.

On Monday, Bajaj and the Renault-Nissan alliance had said they have agreed at the price of $2,500 (Rs 110,000) for the ULC.

Bajaj said the company has 'harmonised' the plans to develop a light commercial vehicle with the development of ULC, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2012.

Last month, the company launched its construction equipment financing and retail loan against securities businesses.

The construction equipment industry size is around Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) where banks, along with select non-banking financial companies, are key players. Bajaj Auto Finance launched construction equipment financing from April 2010 in 16 locations.

BAFL would primarily target medium-to-large customers in the first phase and increase the wallet size in the retail segment at a later stage, Bajaj said.

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It launched retail loan against securities in seven markets. It will be offering LAS products to the HNI (high net worth individual) customer segment where the loan will be offered against pledge of shares and mutual funds.

Meanwhile, the company on Wednesday unveiled a new brand identity for all its group firms.

Under the new identity, all the businesses under Bajaj Finserv would use the brand in such a manner that consumers experience, through each business, the common values of the group, it said.

The company has a new visual identity, which embodies its growth and services, officials said.

Bajaj Finserv's current business lines include protection through Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and lending through Bajaj Auto Finance.