An un-disguised Bajaj RE60, the rear-engine (hence the RE) city car has been caught testing in Pune. The RE60 was unveiled in both the commercial and private variant at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo and was promoted as a safer alternative to an auto rickshaw by the Pune-based bike maker.
Indianautosblog reports that Bajaj has changed little of the car since it was unveiled save for the fact that the glass rear window and metal hatch door, shown at the expo, have been replaced by plastic and fabrics respectively. This decision is likely to have been taken to keep costs down.
The RE60 is powered by a 200cc DTS-i engine, the same mill that sat in the original Pulsar 200 motorcycle. This engine produces 20bhp and will propel the RE60 to a top speed of 70 kmph with a fuelo efficiency of around of 35kmpl.
The car has feature like a central speedometer cluster (mostly for export reasons) dashboard mounted shifter, folding front windows and 44-litre boot space. The model that was snapped also had alloy wheels making it most likely the private variant.
Its small proportions should make it easy to park as well as navigate on increasingly congested city roads. The RE60 is expected to compete with autos (where Bajaj is a segment leader) as a mode of public transport for intra-city commuting rather than with vehicles like the Tata Nano which still holds the crown of the lowest-priced car in India.The Renault-Nissan alliance had expressed interest in selling a re-badged version of the car but there is no word on the developement till now.
Source: IAB
