Rajiv Bajaj (right) in New Delhi on Wednesday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, May 5: Bajaj Auto hopes to launch both its light commercial vehicle (LCV) and low-cost car by 2012.

“The LCV platform that we have been talking about will not be launched before 2012 ... that is when our $2,500 car will hit the markets,” said managing director Rajiv Bajaj.

The two-wheeler company is also aiming at a fuel economy of 30 km per litre (kmpl) for the low-cost car. Nano, the world’s cheapest car, gives a mileage of 23.6 kmpl. Other small cars have a mileage of 15-18 kmpl on an average.

Last week, French auto firm Renault and Bajaj Auto agreed to price the low-cost car they are jointly developing with Nissan at $2,500, (around Rs 1.10 lakh) to compete with the Nano.

The launch of the car, earlier scheduled for 2011, was delayed because of differences over pricing and design. On the delay, Bajaj said, “More than the timing it is the right product which is of importance to us.”

“We have been focusing on developing a car (so) that the monthly cost of ownership is low enough to motivate two-wheeler buyers to upgrade into a car. Our aim is to deliver a mileage of 30 km per litre,” said Bajaj.

He said the company was using its motorcycle experience to come up with a product that would impress customers. “Our experience with motorcycles is that unless there is a 50 per cent increase (in mileage), it is not considered good by customers. Our intention is to do a path breaking job with that kind of fuel economy,” Bajaj said.

The company also aims to deliver an eco-friendly product with the least carbon dioxide emission and replicate what it has been able to achieve in motorcycles.

The company today unveiled two variants of the RE range of three-wheelers, the RE205D and the RE205M.