Bajaj to roll out Four-wheeler, with or without, Renault and Nissan

Rahul Bajaj recently said, Bajaj Auto is on course to launch a four-wheeler, “with or without” the partnership getting formalized. The proposed three-way joint venture between Bajaj Auto, Renault SA and Nissan remains at a memorandum of understanding (MoU) stage as of now, with no formal agreement having been signed.

With them or without them (Renault and Nissan), we are going ahead with the four-wheeler project. The JV is still not signed but a feasibility study is on.
Everything (for the proposed JV) is absolutely on track and all our various teams are working 24×7 on the ULC (ultra low-cost) project

The proposed JV is exploring joint development of a low-cost car and then taking it forward to a light commercial vehicle (LCV) platform. The engine for both the low-cost car as well as the LCV is expected to be common.

Bajaj is expected to provide the manufacturing and marketing muscle to the ULC car while the Renault-Nissan combine claims to have already frozen the car’s design. For the powertrain – engine, transmission and gearbox – the three partners are to work jointly.Bajaj may well be forced to go its own way in the LCV domain as well. It is believed to have already begun work on a four-wheeler LCV product (currently its LCV portfolio comprises only three wheelers) to take on Tata Ace and Mahindra Geep Maxi Truck in the one-tonne range and may look at launching it in the next 12-18 months.