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Pune-based Bajaj Auto, having borne a slowdown in the market and intensified competition from rivals, said it was confident of regaining its position with a series of product launches.
The company is India's second largest two-wheeler maker. Its market share, though, has dwindled to 20.6 per cent in the motorcycle category, down from 27 per cent at the end of 2010-11, a five-year best. Aggressive product expansion by rivals, specially Honda (it doubled its share in the motorcycle segment to 15 per cent), resulted in a drop in its share and volumes.
Sluggish market demand led to a volume fall in motorcycles from a usual 200,000 a month to 150,000-160,000 units. Last month, its bike volumes fell 32 per cent to 135,567 units against 198,394 units a year ago, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. During the nine months ended December this financial year, Bajaj Auto sales fell 16 per cent from a year ago, to 1.6 million units from 1.9 mn.
During the same nine months, the motorcycle segment grew 2.5 per cent to 7.8 mn units, as compared to 7.6 mn sold a year ago. Hero MotoCorp, the biggest two-wheeler maker, had flat growth of 0.5 per cent, selling 4.05 mn units.
To counter the fall and raise excitement in the brand, the Rajiv Bajaj-led company has readied at least half a dozen launches this year, from commuter bikes to premium sport-oriented ones. To begin, a 125-cc model under the Discover brand will be launched in March, to complement the Discover 100M launched during the festive season this year. The bike will be alongside the Discover 125 ST and Discover 125T. A ramp-up in demand for the recently introduced Discover 100M is also expected in the next couple of months.
More, a refreshed model of the Pulsar 180 and the Pulsar 375 will be launched. And, under the KTM brand, an RC200 and RC390 will be introduced later this year.
All this, the company hopes, will lift overall sales back to 200,000 units a month, regaining the lost share. The launches are expected to push the share back to 25-26 per cent, say officials. Said S Ravikumar, president (business development), "We should be able to get back to 200,000 units a month in February."
Sources said Bajaj will showcase some or all of these products at the Auto Expo in Noida.
