Bajaj Auto's Small Car To Be Unveiled At The Auto Expo 2012

After a long wait, Bajaj Auto is finally ready with its small car, which will be unveiled in the upcoming auto show beginning January 4, 2012 .

"The car's model is already complete. However, the company has got the final nod from its other partners, Nissan and Renault, which have approved the design," an executive from Bajaj Auto confirmed. According to sources, the car has an 800 cc petrol engine compared to Tata's 624 cc engine. Also, it is slightly more spacious than Nano. The car will be priced higher than Tata Nano .

Bajaj Auto will announce the final price and other specifications of the car at the New Delhi auto show. The first prototype of the car was shown in 2008 at the Indian Auto Expo.

"Earlier the car was supposed to be cheaper than Nano. However, other partners (Renault-Nissan) said that there should be no compromise on quality even if it means pricing it higher," the executive added.

"Moreover the company had the advantage that it could rework on the mistakes of the predecessors in the segment. Only cheap car is not enough to attract customers as consumers want value for money in this segment," the executive added.

However, he refused to reveal any other finer details about the car. Though no clear details are available, the car is a five-seater, like Tata Nano, and boasts of 30 km per litre mileage. This compares to Nano's mileage of 23 km per litre. The car will be pitched against Tata Nano, Maruti Suzuki Alto and Hyundai Eon.

Three years ago, Bajaj Auto, Nissan Motors and Renault announced that they would work on a small car, which will be priced lower than Tata Nano.

According to the initial agreement, Bajaj Auto was to work on the model, while Nissan and Renault were to be responsible for sales and marketing. However, after Nissan and Renault launched their cars on the Indian roads, rumours were rife that Renault was not happy with the model and at one point of time it was also believed that the project has been shelved.

However, after a few disagreements the project was back on track. Bajaj was working on the model for one year.

Top Picks For Under 5 Lakhs Cars!!

With a boom in the small car segment in the Indian automobile marker, for the first-time buyers are literally spoilt for choice.

Her's our pick of what's installed for you if your budget is just under 5 Lakhs:

The most affordable and most fuel efficient car in India, the Tata Nano currently runs a 624cc two-cylinder petrol motor. It is going to be available in an all-new diesel avatar.  In addition to that, Tata, in a tie up with Bosch Diesel Systems has developed a 800cc two-cylinder diesel engine. This diesel Nano, is to be launched early next year and is speculated to cost Rs 2 lakh ex-showroom.

Tata showed the world that it could build the cheapest car yet, but it was Maruti that put India on wheels with the 800 back in the day. And it is all set to revive the iconic car that is expected to be powered by a more refined 800cc engine. 

The new car will be based on the Alto platform and as a result will offer more room inside. The price is expected to be higher than the Tata Nano petrol at Rs 2.25 lakh ex-showroom.

Chevrolet is all set to get into the ultra compact segment as well with an all-new 800cc Spark. Expect stingy fuel consumption and very practical interior packaging as in the Daewoo Matiz. The 800cc Spark should come in the right price range as well.

The Mahindra Verito compact sedan will be a sub four-metre car with the same engines in its petrol and diesel avatars, and the same features as the Mahindra Verito sedan aka the Renault Logan. 

The price is expected to be lower. The Verito compact sedan is an effort to make a sub 4-metre car which would not have higher taxes or a higher price tag.

Tata pulled off a brilliant move with the launch of the Indigo CS. It plans to do something similar with the Manza and launch a compact sedan version below the four-metre mark for lower taxes. The Manza CS is expected to get the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel mills as in the Tata Vista.

Now Get More At The Same Price With The New Tata Nano!

Yesterday team Tata Nano announced the "introduction of a bouquet of features -- of new colours, new interiors, a more powerful gasoline engine and even greater fuel efficiency of 25.4 kmpl, further improving on its record as India's most fuel efficient petrol car. The car is already available at dealerships, at the same price as before."

In their bid to improve the sales figures, Tata Motors is giving its small car Nano a makeover, with a more powerful engine and new features, while keeping the prices same.

"Making the Tata Nano even more desirable, the car's 624cc engine has been made more powerful, delivering an impressive 38 PS of power (earlier 35 PS) and 51 Nm of torque (earlier 48 Nm)," the company said in a statement.

The new Nano will give you a mileage of 25.4 km per litre of petrol as certified by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) compared to 23.6 km a litre earlier, Tata Motors claimed. In addition to that the company also claims the new Nano to be highly fuel efficient "with a low kerb weight of 600 kg, ensures that the Tata Nano at 92.7 gram per kilometre has the lowest CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission among cars in India". The earlier Nano had an emission record of 101 gram in every km.