Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto is clear about every buck it makes on its new venture codenamed the RE60, a quadricycle. In a presentation on RE60 at its plant in Akurdi, Pune, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, said, ?We hope to garner an Ebitda of more than 20% on the RE60, similar to what we get on our three-wheelers.? He added that the company is ?not looking for any subsidies from the government but what it needs is support?.
Bajaj Auto is awaiting the government policy framework on ?quadricycles?, which it believes is few months away. RC Maheshwari, president commercial vehicles, Bajaj Auto, said, ?The committee set up by the ministry of road transport has been working on the regulations and norms of such vehicles and we understand that the process for the final inclusion of the new class in the CMVR would take a few more months.?
In a bid to not go wrong in the placement of the vehicle and its perception in the market, the company has made four proposals to the government wherein it has said that the quadricycle should not be allowed on roads wherein two-wheelers and three-wheelers do not ply, the weight should be restricted to 450 kgs and speed limited to 70 km per hour. ?Last thing would be to see the vehicle perceived wrongly in the market,? said Bajaj.
The vehicle is powered by the DTSi technology with engine displacement of 216 cc. ?The RE60 will available in petrol, CNG and LPG variants,? said Bajaj. Moreover, Bajaj said that the vehicle can be assembled on site like a three-wheeler. Bajaj Auto has set capacity of 200 units per day for RE60 at its erstwhile scooter plant in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The company feels that it will attract a lot of existing three-wheeler owners to upgrade to it and also for short distance personal mobility.
?The RE60 is expected to shake the last mile connectivity market in India. We expect Bajaj which is the world?s largest three-wheeler maker to evolve and move the three-wheeler segment to four-wheelers. Tatas and M&M need to watch out for it,? said an auto consultant. ?It is a defence strategy to guard our territory,? said Bajaj.
Indicating that the RE60 is ready for overseas market and developed with inspiration from Euro vehicle emission norms, Bajaj said, ?We sell more three-wheelers outside India than in the country and would not hesitate to sell more overseas ? the RE60.? Asked about if the company would start selling overseas first than India, Bajaj, did not deny and added that the company hopes to see the new policy coming in soon. ?We are only few months away from the launch,? he hinted.
Some of the potential export markets for RE60 include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Latin America and Africa. The company said Sri Lanka might be the first to see the RE60 despite the new taxation policy affecting its three-wheeler sales.
Even Europe is on the cards but not in the immediate future. Bajaj said, ?It was for the entry into the European region that we partnered with Renault-Nissan. It might not be clear to them earlier but now they understand why we had been saying that we will be in the front run.?
?We have not stopped talking to Renault-Nissan and we will wait for them. We have never looked beyond them,? said Bajaj. Europe is the largest market for quadricycles with 30,000-40,000 units per year. Around 16 new models of quadricycles are expected to be launched in the next three years.