It gives me no clue at all on why Bajaj chose to unveil their small car prototype just 48 hours before Tata would officially launch their small car. Was it to catch media attention? Your guess is as good as mine.

Bajaj yesterday showcased their foray into the Indian car market, by displaying their prototype of a small car that they would launch2-4 years later. The cost won’t be the 1 lakh limit and may move on to 1.5 Lakh Rupees as well. The car would form the basis for the Bajaj-Nissan – Renault small car, and would come in various powertrain options, and also a LPG, CNG and a hybrid option. According to this ET excerpt, the main area of focus for Bajaj is the fuel efficiency.

Bajaj is pitching for higher mileage as the selling point for its car. “Fuel cost is a greater component of the running cost of the car; so doubling fuel economy does more to lower the cost of the car than halving the price,” he (Rahul Bajaj) said. “We hope the technical specs and features of our car should be quite new and that is what will provide fuel economy,” Mr Bajaj added.

 While details on the engine and powertrain are not out as yet, the car’s chassis and design works would be helped by Renault. A user khanak on Team-Bhp.com has posted some pictures of the small (He in turn has sourced them from GamingIndians.com, Picture Credits to original Source), here are they. Continued after the jump.

Commenting on Bajaj’s rush on showcasing the car, it goes beyond doubt that the car could have been showcased sometime later, with more details on board, however with the Tata’s One lakh car tipped for a launch tomorrow, the media attention is surely attracted. Bajaj is a newcomer in the car market; buyers would be faced with the skepticism on how the car would really perform. Bajaj will have to fight it out to gain a considerable market share and would have to tussle with the market leaders like Tata, Maruti and Hyundai for the small car market. Bajaj now seems to follow the Suzuki path for expansion, and Suzuki too grew from a two wheeler company to a car manufacturing one. Initial design had small car engines of Suzuki, matching with the ones on their higher capacity bikes. Something similar might happen here. Although I am not excited about the small car, but what I am keen on is that we have another Indian Car manufacturer who could promise some good business. Bajaj will have to be tested and wait till the Indian customer begins to trust the company in cars.

Unlike the bikes, some of which do have long listed, quality issues, Bajaj can’t imply the same in the car segment. For many in India a car is a investment for a long period of time, unlike bikes which are bought for a small period than cars. Cars also imply that one can carry his family along with him, more safely than piling 3+ on a bike. Hence, the quality and safety issues on any car have to be on a satisfactory level. We cannot have a car at 1 or 1.5 Lakh car, and rather compromise on the safety of the passengers, nor can we have cheaper poor quality parts and expect the customer to may repeated visits to the showroom.

To conclude, no matter what the early showcase of the Bajaj Small car meant, it does guarantee a competitive market ahead, of course with the norms meant.