Got $3,000? With that sum in India, drivers will have a choice of not one but two brand-new cars.
Actually, the word “car” may be overstating things. The latest entrant into the ultra-cheap sub-$3K automobile market is Bajaj Auto Ltd., a company known mostly for motorcycles and motorized rickshaws. Bajaj prefers the term “four-wheeler” for its new product, a tiny and boxy hatchback called the RE60.
Besides four wheels, the RE60 will be equipped with a one-cylinder 200-cc gasoline engine that’ll top out at 43 miles per hour and get 82 miles per gallon. Also included, according to the New York Times “India Ink” blog:
… seat belts, doors and a hard top. It will have windows, although ones that fold out rather than roll down.
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What can you expect for less than $3,000? Exact info about the vehicle’s price and where and when it’ll be sold hasn’t been released, but it’s expected that the RE60 will start at about $2,750.
At that price, the RE60 would be comparable to the Tata Nano, which is also made in India and typically sells for around $3,000.
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The RE60 was originally dreamed up by Bajaj in conjunction with Renault and Nissan. The latter, interestingly enough, currently manufactures the least-expensive new car sold in the U.S.: the Versa. Even after the Versa’s base price rose by $1,000 for the 2012 model, at $11,750 it’s still the cheapest new vehicle sold stateside. The RE60 gets way better gas mileage, though: 82 mpg vs. about 33 mpg for the Versa.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.