The Indian automaker Bajaj Auto will begin deliveries to Russia of the Qute car, which is considered the cheapest in the world, in September-October this year, reports Bajaj distributor in Russia East West Motors. The cost of Qute in India is $2 thousand. In Russia, prices for the model will start from 300 thousand rubles, that is, more than twice as high as in India. (about $4.5 thousand at the Central Bank exchange rate as of May 18).

Bajaj Qute car (Photo: Saurabh Das/AP)

Qute went into production in September 2015. This is a four-seater car with a single-cylinder petrol motorcycle engine producing 13.5 hp. The car weighs 400 kg and accelerates to 70 km/h.

“The declared fuel consumption is less than 2.8 liters per 100 km. Methane and propane versions are planned. In India, the model costs $2 thousand, which makes it the cheapest in the world. Until now, this title belonged to another Indian “people's car” - the Tata Nano, the cost of which starts at $3 thousand,” the report notes.

According to the documents, Qute is classified as an ATV; to drive it in Russia you need a car license category B.

Earlier, the CEO of East West Motors, Alexander Alekseev, reported that in 2016 the distributor plans to sell 200–300 Indian Qutes in Russia . As Sergei Udalov, executive director of Avtostat, noted in a conversation with RBC, the Qute is unlikely to be popular in Russia: for the same money you can buy a car with more functionality and comfort on the secondary market. The car may be interesting as a commercial vehicle due to its low operating cost, for example for courier delivery, Alekseev said.

Bajaj Qute is classified as an ATV and is not positioned as the cheapest car in the Western market, as it is not actually a car. At the same time, the Bajaj Qute turned out to be cheaper than the Tata Nano, which was the cheapest car in the world. On the Russian market, Qute is positioned by the distributor as a car, although formally the model in Russia is an ATV.

In Russia they named the prices for the cheapest car in the world