While Ultra Shakti is designed for hilly terrains, Ultra Fun is easy to ride because of its height, size and weight and targetted at women among others. UMC has a retail network of over 175 exclusive dealerships across 17 states and in over 130 cities in the country.

[Via: motorbeam]

Bajaj had announced that it will introduce its ultra cheap car in the Indian market, soon after the Nano was launched. The car is coded as ULC and a feasibility study is underway to study the economic and technical feasibility of such a project in India.

''The techno-economic feasibility for the passenger 4-wheeler will be evaluated by Bajaj-Renault-Nissan for a final decision, leading to firming up of the co-operation parameters among partners and a suitable JV agreement,'' according to the company.

Bajaj will build this car in association with Nissan and Renault in India. The USP for selling this car will be its fuel economy as Bajaj promised that this car will deliver the best mileage, exceeding any other small car in the country and will be the most fuel efficient car in India. It stated the emphasis will be on the fuel economy and not the car's price. The car will be built at Bajaj's Chakan plant near Pune with an initial capacity of producing 250,000 units annually.

Bajaj is also revamping the car's design which was originally designed by Renault. The new design will take into consideration aerodynamic aspect and other features that will enable car to deliver better mileage.

[Via: cartradeindia]

Last year, Bajaj and Renault had signed an MoU for the ULC car project, but the actual joint venture agreement has not been signed yet. According to reports in the media, both Bajaj and Renault still want to work together on the small car, but their aims and objectives are turning out to be dissimilar, which may put the whole project in jeopardy.

Bajaj, which currently has no cachet in the passenger cars space, is looking to develop a vehicle which other carmakers may find difficult (or even impossible?) to profitably replicate. In addition to low cost, the Pune-based two-wheeler manufacturer wants to focus on fuel-efficiency for its first car.

Renault, meanwhile, wants to go after the Tata Nano, no holds barred. It wants to develop a car that can take on the Nano in terms of pricing and value-for-money. The French company is confident that for Nano money, it can actually offer a car that's better engineered, safer, more stylish and more refined than the Tata product. While Bajaj believes that a Nano replica - even one that's slightly better than the original - may not work, Renault is quite gung-ho about it and wants to launch its own version of the Nano as soon as possible.

Apart from tech specs and positioning, the other major issue is that of branding. Bajaj is keen to keep the upper hand here, since the ULC car will be its first foray into the passenger cars segment. The company wants the new car to be seen as a Bajaj product, and does not want the Renault badge to overwhelm the Bajaj name.

While both Bajaj and Renault remain committed to resolving their issues over the next few weeks, their ULC car may well be delayed by 6-12 months if Bajaj insists on reengineering the package completely. There also seems to be a small chance that the alliance may not take off at all, in which case Bajaj will go on to develop the small car on its own, perhaps with technical inputs from KTM. Either way, it should be interesting to see how this story finally pans out.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

SAVSOL Ultra 4T 125CC Plus is available in 1 litre pack which retails for around Rs.203 while the 900ml pack is priced at Rs.183 across India through Savita's extensive distribution network.

According to Maharaj K Wazir, President, Savita Chemicals Ltd, the company for the first time in India has provided a genuinely high technology dedicated 4T Oil for motorcycles having engines of 125CC capacity and above. He further added that SAVSOL Ultra 4T 125 CC PLUS will perform equally well in a 100CC Engine.

[Via: BIKE]

Ultra Motor, which is aiming for sales of up to 55,000 units in 2009-10, is also considering the possibility of setting up a new assembly plant near Gurgaon, which may be operational by mid-2010. Last year, the company had announced it would invest about Rs 150 crore towards expansion activity in India and the new plant would be a part of that.

The market for electric bikes and scooters in India is expected to grow in a big way over the next 3-5 years. Another major player - Hero Electric - is also looking at a sales growth of 75% in the next fiscal, for which the target is 70,000 units. The company is also working on expanding its dealer network to as many as 360 outlets, up from the current 100.

However, the current generation of electric scooters are bikes - which are extremely low on power (top speed in most cases is barely 25km/h!) and have a rather limited range - are likely to have a presence only in the entry-level segment. Until much more powerful electric bikes, with longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries, make an appearance, electric bike manufacturers are likely to remain niche players.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

Additionally, the company is also looking forward to associations with BTL agencies to enter the semi-urban markets as a part of it's marketing strategy for FY10. UMC is planning to augment numerous BTL initiatives to support it's distribution network and increase organic growth.

According to Joe Santana, Chairman, UMC, UK, India is one of the largest two-wheeler markets in the world and hence continues to be one of the most important markets for them. Santana also said that the company will remain focused on their plans for the Indian market and are committed to grow in the electric two-wheeler market in India.

The UK-based company currently sells electric scooters for both the high speed and high range category of electric two-wheelers in India. UMC has already established the range of 'Ultra Motors' electric scooters with over 160 dealerships across 17 states.

[Via: Bike]

UMI plans to invest Rs 150 crore towards product development, and the marketing and distribution of its electric scooters and bikes in India. The company aims at catering to the requirements of southern and western markets in the country via its plant in Hyderabad, and is looking at setting up its second plant somewhere in north India, to cater to market requirements from other parts of the country.

UMI, which has a sales target of 45,000 e-bikes this year, recently launched the Marathon, which has a range of up to 100km and which is priced at Rs 32,000 ex-showroom Chennai. With the rising prices of petrol, a certain section of entry-level scooter/motorcycle buyers are now switching to electric power, and UMI is trying to leverage that development.

[Via: Indiaautomotive]

'To avail the benefits of the untapped Indian market, we will be investing Rs 150 crore in the next three years to expand our operations in India,' says Joe Santana, chairman, Ultra Motor. The investments would go towards new product development and marketing costs.

Ultra plans to launch five new electric scooters in India in this fiscal. Three of these would be in the low-speed segment, while the remaining two would high-speed models. The company is also working on an electric motorcycle at its R&D centre in the UK. The bike, whose performance would be comparable to a 100cc petrol-engined bike, will also be introduced in India in 2009.

[Via: Indiaautomotive]