New Car 2011 - Used Cars and Concept

The Bajaj-Renault-Nissan alliance could extend beyond the ‘ultra low-cost car’ (ULC) to include a range of electric vehicles. Nissan-Renault boss Carlos Ghosn recently announced that he plans to start mass production of electric vehicles as part of his strategy to boost demand, which is now sluggish due to high fuel prices.
According to sources in the vendor circuit, Nissan-Renault may look at its ULC alliance with Bajaj for affordable production of e-vehicles. When contacted, Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj refused to comment. If the Bajaj-Renault-Nissan alliance does get into e-vehicles, it will be one more segment, apart from the Nano, where the combine will have a face-off with the Tatas.

Tata Motors has entered into an arrangement with Chrysler to develop an electric version of the Ace light truck for sale in North America. Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars section will import the fully-built vehicles for sale in the US. It isn’t clear whether the Bajaj-Renault-Nissan combine will build e-versions of the light truck that Bajaj displayed at the Auto Expo this year. Bajaj has been keen to extend its relationship with Renault to light commercial vehicles as well.
Portfolio of products
Bajaj and Nissan Renault are already negotiating to extend their ULC partnership beyond a single car. The alliance will spawn an entire portfolio of products from cars to multi-purpose, multi-seater vehicles. There would be different products, and not just variants of the same product, at different price points. The multi-product plan ties in neatly with the ULC platform, which is flexible.
Nissan Renault is focusing on low-cost production centres like India and Morocco to shore up margins and cut manufacturing costs. The combine is already developing its first electric car in Israel, which it hopes to mass market by 2011. The steep rise in gasoline prices has upped the interest in electric and hybrid vehicles globally. All the big names in the business are betting on this technology for future growth. GM, for instance, has announced commercial production of its electric concept Volt.
Chrysler, which showcased green concepts ecoVoyager, Dodge ZEO and Jeep Renegade at the Detroit auto show in January, has indicated it will roll out electric cars in three to five years. Toyota, whose Prius hybrid is the American best-seller, is looking to sell over a million units by 2011-12 and even Ford is looking at the e-vehicle route to stem falling sales of its gas-guzzler trucks and SUVs.
Source : economictimes india