The country's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj today said it will add 130 new dealerships by June that will create about 7,000 new jobs.
"The target of appointing 130 quality dealers, a task, which usually takes around 9-12 months, will be completed in the short span of 4 months," Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) President (Motorcycle Business) S Sridhar said in a statement.
The company has selected the new dealerships with the use of internet and delegation through a layered selection process, he added.
"These new dealerships will commence temporary operations by March-end, with final operations commencing by June," BAL said, adding the selection was completed by December last year and letters of intent were issued in this month.
A Bajaj dealership in the new towns has the direct employment potential of approximately 50 people, boosting the local economy, the statement said.
"This expansion in 130 towns would therefore create 7,000 new jobs in the country," it added.
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The company had first notified the process to appoint 130 new dealers, which will take its total strength to over 600 outlets in November. It received over 4,000 inquires and 2,700 completed online applications from across the country.
Besides, over Rs 18 crore is being invested to upgrade its 1,100 service centres across the country to support the advanced DTS-i (Digital Twin Spark ignition) technology, used in Discover and Pulsar.
Elaborating the logic behind such large scale dealership addition and upgradation exercise, Sridhar said, "The objective for this exercise is to rapidly cover key emerging markets, strengthen existing markets and also to increase sales and market share."
These new dealerships will help the company to increase the share in the smaller towns, which are today inadequately catered to by the secondary network, he added.