“To clarify matters as they stand, in view of recent speculation of varying accuracy”, Renault has confirmed that it is in “preliminary deliberations to jointly understand customer requirements and business potential for “very competitive vehicles” in India” with Bajaj Auto.
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Translation: the pair are discussing the (already much-discussed) $US3,000 car that is very much a pet project of Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn who last week told analysts he was already thinking about the next Logan generation and another car selling for $US3,000.
“We have had contacts with Bajaj and that was about the $3,000 car, but we are still in a phase of making up our minds,” a Renault spokeswoman told Reuters at the time.
“If concluded favourably, the automaker has since said in a statement, this could lead to a long term partnership between Renault and Bajaj…”
Bajaj Auto makes two-wheelers – still a staple of the Indian motoring scene – and commercial vehicles and sold over 2.7m units in its ‘07 fiscal year, including exports of 442,000 units, for revenues of $2.3bn.
Ghosn recently praised Indian auto engineers for being frugal with development costs.
