Bajaj Urbanite scooter spotted on test

Talks of Bajaj making a comeback in the scooter segment have been making the rounds from as early as 2013. At the time, Bajaj was expected to launch a scooter with contemporary styling. However, based new spy shots of a scooter, which is linked to the Bajaj Urbanite sub-brand, it appears as if the Indian manufacturer has changed its plans and will go down the retro-styled scooter route, like many other manufacturers these days. The images also seem to suggest that the new scooter will not be an all-electric model and may be powered by an internal combustion engine instead.

While there was talk of Bajaj not making an ICE-powered scooter, there was also once talk of the company not making a scooter at all. However, that was recently dismissed when Bajaj unveiled the Urbanite early this year. The company said that it aims to ‘do a Tesla in the two-wheeler space’ with its niche Urbanite brand. When Rajiv Bajaj revealed that the Urbanite was in the works, he also said that he did not want to enter the scooter segment with a product similar to other two-wheelers in the country.

This brings us to the retro-looking scooter that was spotted in Pune. While the image does not show the right-hand side of the scooter, it sports a retro-modern design, with curvy side panels and a wide front apron contrasted by contemporary multi-spoke alloy wheels. Sources in the know tell us sketches of this scooter had surfaced online with an internal combustion engine, a few months ago.

It seems like Bajaj is emulating Vespa – rather than Tesla – with this scooter. Bajaj will take advantage its heritage in marketing this scooter and we could potentially see them bring back the Chetak moniker. We also expect Bajaj to power the new scooter with a four-stroke, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine, displacing somewhere in the region of 125-150cc. It will also most likely be gearless like its direct rival, the Vespa.

The scooter also appears to be production-ready and going through its final tests, which leads us to believe that the first offering from the Urbanite brand will be a standard internal combustion-powered scooter. There is no official word from the two-wheeler maker regarding an all-electric electric offering, for now.

from Autocar India - News http://bit.ly/2JZLBCO