India's largest three-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto has kicked off talks with the government in Indonesia for replacing 15,000 over 20-year old 'Bajajs' plying the roads of Jakarta.
This move attains significance at a time when the Jakarta Transporation Agency is encouraging three-wheeler operators in the city to replace their vehicles with a new four-wheeler 'Kancil' to control vehicular pollution.
Around 600 three-wheeler operators agreed to switch to the Kancil earlier this week following the issuance of new licences by the governer of Jakarta.
But industry observers feel that this replacement demand could work out in Bajaj's favour as the company is well on it way to setting up an assembling unit in the country.
"The government has permitted us to start selling three-wheelers in Indonesia only if they use
Bajaj which had been selling its three-wheelers in the south-east Asian country between the '70s and '80s had to discontinue its exports after the local government stopped issuing new permits in 1986 following a ban on two-stroke vehicles.
The ban was lifted around two years back and company is now re-entering the market through an assembling plant which will become operational in this fiscal.
At least 2,000 Bajaj drivers and owners staged a rally in Jakarta opposing the government's plan to replace the vehicles. They argued that the new vehicles would reduce their income significantly as they were not as powerful and sturdy as the Bajaj.
