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 that 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 may be an all-electric model.
When Bajaj unveiled the Urbanite early this year, it said that it aims to ‘do a Tesla in the two-wheeler space’. Rajiv Bajaj also revealed 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 left-hand side of the scooter, which would reveal the drivetrain, it does show us the right side where it is missing one crucial component of an internal combustion engine scooter – the exhaust. This leads us to believe that this could very well be the upcoming electric scooter that Bajaj hinted at a few months ago.
The scooter sports a retro-modern design, with curvy side panels and a wide front apron contrasted by contemporary multi-spoke alloy wheels. Interestingly, sources in the know tell us sketches of this scooter had surfaced online with an internal combustion engine, a few months ago. We have been told that the only difference that is visible between the scooter in the sketch and the one spotted is the exhaust unit. The Bajaj scooter that has been spied also appears to be production-ready and going through its final tests. At present, we have no information on the technical specifcations of the upcoming scooter, but we can expect more information to surface soon.
If the scooter in the image is in fact the upcoming Bajaj Urbanite e-scooter, it will rival all-electric offerings from brand like Ather, Okinawa and Twenty Two Motors in India.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
