The diversity in the automobile industry to get another addition, with the central government giving approval for a new segment with the name Quadricycles. A Quadricycle is already a known entity in European countries like the Renault Twizy. A Quadricycle is basically a four wheeled vehicle with a small engine positioned between a three-wheeler and a passenger car, which has its own safety and emission regulations rather then that of a passenger car. In Europe they have two categories of the same i.e light quadricycles (L6e) and heavy quadricycles (L7e). The light ones don’t even need a license to drive in some place. The difference between both lies in the engine output and the laden and unladen mass.
The government has assembled a technical committee, which will inspect all the aspects, safety norms included, helping them to form a policy for this new category of automobile. The gain will be good for Bajaj Auto’s RE60 four-wheeler, and they insisted that it was not a car but a product that signifies as a step forward for three-wheeler owners. This new segment has a potential to contribute to the automobile industry and possibly attract biggies like Piaggio, Mahindra as well as TVS.
The coming years would show the impact of this approval and to which extend its applied in the launch of new products. Tata Nano was initially based on the quadricycle concept, but was withdrawn due to obstacles within the industry and finally the company developed it as a full fledged car. We could have seen a quadricycle category with the Tata Nano itself. Now Bajaj Auto is asking for the same concessions under the quadricycle category.
