Honda is very strongly associated with the word "Quality".

For the common man it will always associate Honda = Quality, even if someone else brings out equally good or better quality products. Does anyone think that Yamaha, Suzuki or Kawasaki is inferior to Honda in terms of Quality..??

The Yamaha R15 Version 2.0 (or for that matter any Yamaha India product) has excellent levels of build finish and quality parts. But then when one says Yamaha, it is associated with "Racing/Performance/Pick up" not "Quality". On the other hand even with quality issues on the CBR250R, for the common man the first name for "Quality" will always be Honda.

What Mr. Bajaj says is its futile to replace/replicate Honda from the minds of the people when it comes to quality. Therefore apart from improving quality (which every manufacturer has to do), Bajaj has to find and strength its own USP in order to fend off competition.

Now what do you guys think is the USP of Bajaj products like Pulsar, Discover?

Mr. Rajiv Bajaj once quoted "What is the one word each manufacturer owns that is in the mind of the motorcycle consumer? In my view, the word that Honda owns is quality, Hero owns is mileage and the one word Bajaj owns is power, thanks to the Pulsar. If it's Yamaha, that word is style. The one word that TVS owns is cheap (not in a bad sense) but as in the least expensive.

If this is true, then it points to a very high state of evolution in the market place where consumers are able to clearly associate brands with positions. Each of the above-mentioned brands has a clear position.

This has its pros and cons. The pro is that, for instance, if a consumer wants power, other things being equal, he will come to you. So, the brand becomes safer in that sense. It is relatively insulated. The con of that is people who don't seek power won't be really too interested in you-but I think the advantage is greater than the disadvantage."

What i feel is the statement holds completely true...Every brand has its own identity...I have owned a Honda Unicorn...I liked the quality of it...but it is also true whenever i used to see a pulsar zooming around me, leaving me far behind...I used to get the same feeling. What i get in Honda's I can't get in Bajaj..but what I can get in Bajaj, certainly i can't get in Honda...

With a country specific about "Returns on Investment" concept..People most oftenly think about Hero's and Honda's( in terms of fuel efficiency, quality, reliability and most important after sales)

The only who think beyond it go for Bajaj..

Bajaj has gone long way from a novice to a market leader in the bike segment...the upgrades you find out in Bajaj you can never find out in any other brand...Every time they keep on upgrading their models...They are always dynamic.
The pulsars have gone a long way undoubtedly not only in performance but in quality too...Today's pulsars are far far better in any respect than the 1st gen pulsar...but have you seen any change in any other brand like this??...U ride today's splendour and the first gen splendour...u wont find a single difference except in the instrumentation field..

It is said " It is always better to enhance the pros, instead of eliminating the cons,
History has seen many companies who lost their edge...just because they never appreciated what they had, but always look for what they hadn't..
The most popular Blackberry (focusing on tablets, they forgot about their smartphone)...the result everyone knows..
What Rajiv Bajaj quoted conveys the same message..

I agree. The recent CBR250R is not the Honda that we want it to be.

As Honda san said,"Racing improves the breed"
Bajaj should have used Kawa's expertise. But don't know why they aren't? Or Katoom's expertise. But Katoom somehow doesn't have the same aura as Kawasaki.

I agree. But, they could've done it more subtly and softly.

In the Discover 125 advert, a HH/ Honda owning guy was explaining how he doesn't want to show pickup so he bought HH/H, and his wife wears the pants! And his wife decides what to do, including feeding him an ice cream(which she pulls away).

I somehow believe that SOME HH/ Honda guys will NEVER EVER go for a Bajaj, after being insulted like this. I know stereotyping doesn't exist among most matured people. But still, its a "pathetic portrayal" of people owning HH bikes. I know some real bikers owning HH/ Honda's Indian bikes.

@Samarth That particular Discover 125 ad was not something that you and me as motorcycle enthusiasts can easily relate to.

Those were people who were very much aware that a superior (even according to the protagonists) product was very much available with the competition but still they 'settled' for their Splendors and Passions after succumbing to peer/family/parental pressures. The only thing fundamentally wrong with 'settling' for something inferior for getting 'social acceptance' shows low self esteem. The wife/the father/the boss wasn't going to ride the protagonist's bike, he was! Still he 'settled', knowing very well, the fact.

I would like to flashback to 2003, when I got my first commuter bike, a Blue Caliber 115. I didn't know sh!t about motorcycles, didn't even know how to ride one. The only reason I myself didn't want to get a Pulsar / CBZ was I was afraid I would kill myself. The only reason I wanted the bike was to go to coaching #1, junior college, coaching #2, coaching #3 and back home . I wouldn't need any power if I am going to ride purely in the city. I was an Ideal customer for a Hero Honda Splendor! The budget was set at 50k and we headed to the friendly neighbourhood Hero Honda Showroom and checked out the pricing for Hero Honda Splendor. It was retailing for 45k back in the day, 7.xx BHP. Perfect! I liked the look of the Ambition 133 but since it overshot the budget, we came back to Splendor.

But my elder brother, who has lived through the era of the 2-strokers wasn't satisfied. So we checked out the TVS Victor, 110cc, 8.5bhp. More Power, better looks, smooth engine, 45.5k, couldn't have been better. It was almost finalized when, just because the son of our Landlord had just got himself a Kawasaki Bajaj Boxer, We went over to Bajaj to check it out.

On reaching Bajaj, I never went around to even touch the Boxer, because, frankly we didn't need to. I loved the Caliber's exhaust note and Bhai loved the low end torque. BAL were the only people who offered me a TR even though I didn't have a License. There was the Croma, the 115 and since I didn't want a Pulsar, everything else easily fit the budget. We Finally picked the most powerful one of the lot, the Caliber 115, with the 9.5 bhp, the bling, the tagline ->Hoodibaba!, the tacho needle which changed colour according to the way I rode, the best top-end AND the best FE. And all this for Rs.500/- LESS than the price of a Hero Honda Splendor!! Had I gone for the Splendor, or even the Passion after knowing this at the back of my mind, I would never have been able to forgive myself whenever a Caliber would have overtaken me on the road (After all I was only a Kid!). Believe me it would have been a very painful to downgrade after my earlier ride, the 1986 Kinetic Honda (2S). I could have pretended that at least I have a bike, or I could have done what I eventually did. In the 6 year ownership period, my bike never gave up on me even once. Not even a puncture!! What reliability would have been gained by going for the much less powerful Splendor by paying 500 bucks more back in 2003 is something I cannot figure out till now!

The only change now is that the Caliber 115 has been replaced by a Discover 125, which IMO is a much more superior product than a Splendor Plus or a Passion Pro in all respects!


Contrary to what we feel, the Indian consumer at the bottom of the pyramid is not looking for VFM. What he looks for is Acceptance! The social acceptance which comes from owning a Hero Honda (or Hero Moto Corp now) or a Maruti. If VFM was the thing the customer desired, the best selling bike would have been the Bajaj Platina 100 and the Nano would have been the top selling car. Since people still spend 1.5x lac to buy a 5 year old Alto instead of a Brand new Nano, Clearly, VFM is not something that the bottom of the pyramid is looking for.


Coming back to topic, the USP of a Discover is VFM. The USP of a Pulsar is its cheap thrills. But to be consistently succesful at the bottom of the pyramid, the USP required is social acceptance.

Loved it!!. Even I have ridden Caliber of my friend & have loved it.

You put it across really well, I had a close relative of mine who had a splendor he sold it off and still went ahead and brought another splendor, even though there were other better products in the market. For him Hero Honda was and will always be the best, he was least bothered about any other better product, all the people in his village had a splendor so I guess that is the reason he went for it

My maternal uncle (mama) does the exact same thing, every 2-3 years! Although he concedes that his old Kawasaki Bajaj 4S Champion was a better bike overall, it had more pulling power, more cc (99.6cc Vs 95.4cc, Yes, he knows this!), wouldn't heat up as much as his Splendors do when he rode it in his small town traffic. In fact he was one of the staunchest supporter of my Brother's decision to get me a Caliber. Still, every 3 years max, when he feels he needs a change, he sells his old Splendor and gets himself another Splendor. This has been happening for so long that these days he doesn't even call up to tell us that he got another one. It is kind of assumed .

Aptly put.. and I believe that both the Pulsar and the Discover definitely has social acceptance.

As proof, the Discover 100 retails at a price slightly higher than the Splendor and the Pulsar 150 has a price tag that is slightly higher than the Honda CB Unicorn. It's a different matter that its very very difficult to convince a Splendor customer to even think of something else.


The bottom of the Pyramid in Indian motorcles currently comprises of the Bajaj Platina, Hero Honda CD Dawn/Deluxe, TVS Star and Yamaha Crux.

Pulsar 150 makes 10% more power than the CB Unicorn. It comes with a digital speedo which CB Unicorn doesn't. It has a USP which Unicorn doesn't (Cheap Thrills). A USP which is much more important in the Power-Commuter segment.

Discover 100 comes loaded with extra features which are missing on the Splendor. They are quite justified in charging a Rs.300 premium (Source: xBHP Bike selector tool) over the Splendor when they offer Electric Start, 5th Gear and full DC electricals. Discover is also the current mileage champion in the econo-commuter market in India.

Once again, Discover has to use its USP i.e. VFM to sell whatever no.s it manages. Splendor can conveniently skip these and still manage to sell 1 lac+ units month after month after month for years together. If BAL happen to remove those extra features, the Discover can very well be sold for a price much lower than the Splendor.

In both cases which means "More for Less" or "More for Same" is offered.

Apart from that, I do believe that both brands have also established themselves well (more than socially acceptable).

then a 650 who knows in future bajaj can be like todays Ducati

true that. i`ve never had a pleasurable fulfilling ride in my220.

I do not think they want to win over customers from Honda... They are targetting the younguns who are on a lookout for their first bike... They have tried winning over the crowd since all these years in vain... Because the Indian philosophy of "Do not venture out... Stick to your comfort zone..." strictly applies to this category... And ofcourse the social acceptance, as is mentioned in Siddhuism "Duniya ka sabse bada Rog, Mere baare mein kya kahenge LOG"...

Aptly put... Couldn't have said it better...