There are new set of differences between the two partners of India’s next ultra-cheap car. Bajaj Auto, Renault India and Nissan Motors had agreed for a joint venture in India as Bajaj Renault-Nissan to launch its ultra-cheap car in competition with Nano. The project has already been delayed due to the ongoing credit crisis and nearly every car maker is stalling their future projects. The new road block for the project is the branding issue. According to the latest reports, the development work for the project is on track but the final contract for the joint venture has not been signed as yet.
Bajaj Renault Nissan has set end-2011 as their project deadline but with the present scenario it seems that they would miss the same. According to Ravi Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, there are issues over branding and the final joint venture agreement has still not been signed. The MoU for the same had been signed amidst great fanfare last year between Bajaj and Carlos Ghosn, chairman of Renault and Nissan.
There have already been issues amongst the companies regarding the design, style and technical specifications. Last year, Bajaj had ordered scrapping of the project and had demanded major changes in design and technical specifications. Moreover, Nissan-Renault had been arguing over positioning of the car on the basis of the price while Bajaj has always stressed on fuel efficiency as the positioning of the car.
