My
first impression on Bajaj Qute
Every
manufacturer’s goal is to get the biggest pie of the market share. Getting into
the higher end of the market gives better margins, but may result in lesser
units of sales. Conversely, playing in the lower end provides more volumes, but
narrow margins.
Bajaj is entering a Quadricycle segment (4
wheeler) for the first time with the Bajaj Qute. Here is a sneak peek into what
the model holds.
1.Appearance:
It is quite small in proportion
compared to other small cars in the market. It is nearly 250mm smaller in
length than the nearest rival Maruti Alto
Looks
are quite odd and there is no interesting angle that captures attention.
However, the front end looks ok.
The
body is a mix of metal and plastic body, with the doors, bonnet and dicky made
up of plastic.
Interestingly,
you have storage space inside the bonnet, which is quite spacious given the
diminutive size of the vehicle.
2.
Interiors
Windows come with sliding glasses. However,
there are no winding handles, which can be put down to a cost-cutting measure.
Personally, this reminds me of a car from the past, the Citroen 2CV.
Seats
are very basic, with only to and fro movement enabled. There is no headrest
either. However, you do have seat belts.
The
biggest drawback could be the non-availability of A/C, which is not even
available as an option. Since the glass is of a sliding type, this will impact
the ventilation too. When speaking to the salesperson, he informed me that one
fan will be provided at the time of sale.
Gears
are not the usual ‘H-type’ gears. It is one down and four up, which mounted on
the dashboard The reverse can be activated by pull the gear towards you and
engage the gear Even though the gear shift is new, it is quite easy to learn. I
feel it will be very easy for first-time learners.
There
are few storage bins in the dashboard, under the seat and doors. The vehicle
comes with an inbuilt radio and USB card reader and it serves the purpose. However, the audio quality will not impress
you.
3.Driving impression
The
interiors are bare basic when you sit inside.
Once
you start the engine, (surprisingly you get a self starter) you can
unmistakably hear the single-cylinder noise. Thankfully it is bearable and the
engine drone is better than a Tata Nano.
Shifting
the gears will take little time, but it is easy to master it. Once you get the
hang of it, it is a breeze.
Coming
to the brakes it is all around drum brakes, meaning it will not be as sharp as
the Maruti Alto. So do take the precaution of giving a little space to the
person in the front especially in bumper to bumper traffic.
For
three people in the vehicle the pickup is reasonable. You won’t lag behind in
the city traffic. In the open roads and highways, it will not be able to keep
up with the traffic
The
marketing team claims that the vehicle gives a mileage of around 35km/ltr in
city limits. Even if we assume that it gives around 25 km/hr, it works out to
Rs 3 /km—which is quite cheap to operate.
Eg: If your daily commute is 20km and
use it for 25 days your bill will come to Rs 1500 a month, whereas an
autorickshaw bill in Bangalore will come to Rs 6500 for the same distance.
Provided they go by the meter. This is the biggest plus point of the vehicle.
4. Engine
According
to the salesperson at the showroom, the engine is taken from Bajaj Pulsar and
hence the availability of spares and reparability will be easy. The engine is
just 216cc capacity, which is lesser than Tata Nano by 400cc.
5.Negative points
The
biggest pain point is the selling price which at Rs 2.8 lakhs on road in
Pondicherry is very high. In comparison, the Tata Nano is way superior in every
way. Tata Nano also comes with A/C and
power steering in top models.
I
think Bajaj is pretty confused as to which market it is catering the vehicle
too. Do they want to target students, first-timers or pitch it as the family
second car? Basically Bajaj is trying to keep its feet on both on the
autorickshaw market and private vehicle market, which is not going to work.
Verdict
Bajaj has done a good job of launching this
quadricyle. However, to succeed they will have to choose the market they are
pitching to—the yellow board taxi market or the white board private market. If
the target is the private market, then the maximum selling cost should not
exceed Rs 1.3 lakhs.
