Bajaj RE60: Redefining the Auto?

It does not have anyaspirations to be a car, and Rajiv Bajaj made it quite clear. This was, as hehighlighted only the second time he had seen the vehicle in physical form andadmitted that his on-off and then on-again partners Renault-Nissan had neverseen it. "The platform that we have developed for the RE60 can be used todevelop a three-wheeler or a car, but what happens going forward is still up inthe air." Until Renault-Nissan see the car, the future direction is still to bedecided.

But what about theRE60 itself? First, it is quite small, and like the Tata Nano is elegant withclean flowing lines, this is not. Indeed, some might even call this quite ugly.But one model on display had an integrated Auto Meter and with Bajaj likelyfitting a 200cc plus engine using Bajaj's patented DTSi technology, whichproduces around 14-15 horsepower, it is more powerful than a current auto rickshaw.Plus it has a roof. According to Bajaj engineers, who did not give out exacttechnical specifications, the RE60 will give 35 kilometers to a litre inregular usage with carbon emissions of around 60 grams per kilometer, less thanhalf that of most other small cars.

And there were a fewsurprising bits. The first is that the RE60 may not start life on Indian roads,but rather in Sri Lanka."We sell 10,000 Bajaj RE three-wheelers in Sri Lanka every month and 9,000 ofthem are used for personal transportation. We feel that in Sri Lanka wecan easily establish this as a mode of private city commuting", Rajiv Bajajhighlighted. But in India,he believes the massive opportunity exists in the five million plus Bajajthree-wheeler fleet on the roads. "I feel that in the next ten years, thatentire fleet can be replaced with something like this." In so far as ambition,Rajiv Bajaj cannot be faulted.

And he has one ally,Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, one of the few policymakers to have seen thevehicle and believes will get rid of the 'eye-sores' (the three-wheelers) fromher city. Tata and M&M have been killing off small commercial three-wheelerswith their ultra-light trucks, and the RE60 with some backing from cities likeDelhi; and do not be surprised if a diktat to replace all three-wheelers withproducts like the RE60 happens within a year or so; the RE60 is already on itsway towards becoming that irritating moving traffic obstacle that the Bajaj REthree-wheeler already is. Albeit a safer one, so say hello to the 'Autogaddi'.