Bajaj Auto may sell RE60 vehicle in Sri Lanka before India launch

MUMBAI –  Bajaj Auto Ltd. may export its first four-wheeled vehicle--the RE60--to Sri Lanka before introducing it in India, Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj said Tuesday.

Sri Lanka is “a large market, and we already have a good distribution set-up there. It gives us confidence [by launching it in Sri Lanka],” he said. Rajiv Bajaj said at the Jan. 3 unveiling of the RE60 that the company--India’s second-largest two-wheeler maker by sales--expects the model to create a new public passenger vehicle or “city taxi” segment.

He had also expressed the hope that the 200-cubic centimeter gasoline engine vehicle will eventually replace the about five million Bajaj Auto three-wheeled vehicles currently plying the roads across India. The RE60 will be made at Bajaj’s three-wheeler plant at the western Indian city of Aurangabad. Tuesday, Bajaj said the company sells about 10,000 three-wheeled vehicles each month in Sri Lanka. (Dow Jones)