News Approved.

"three premium models (150 cc and above) later this year. "

Later.,....

I wonder how 150cc and above bikes will help BAJAJ in this tight financial situation.They are losing numbers in the cost sensitive segment i.e Economy so they should stress more on that segment.May be the P150 is losing its sheen so to regain it they are planning a slew of launches.But that's only a short term solution!!

By all probabilities, Bajaj would pitch in the Value For Money products... hopefully it will be in a new range, not under the existing Pulsar umbrella!

In biking world... nothing is for long term... A lifecyle for a bike design is 3-4 years.. you have a decent product one day Manufacturer A ... 2nd day you get a better product from Manufacturer B... 3rd day you get a better product from Manufacturer C. Its a vicious cycle.. and everything is for short time...

Leave aside blindfolded people who dont consider passion & splendour to be aged design..

what goes up.. comes down too... some very fast.. some relatively slow... Pulsar ruled here for a long long time... now its down...

Today if bajaj comes out with better than imagined competitor to FZ... then FZ will loose.. Since masses have penchant for Bajaj.. and not for Yamaha. Ok.. Yamaha resembles performance... but what about competitive pricing... Bajaj rules at pricing front... be it total price.. or cost of ownership..

Even from the FZ thread if you look closely... FZ delivers FE figure which is less than a Pulsar 180... At the end of the day people also look at the low cost of ownership...

My opinion is... What bajaj is doing is right.. Infact they desperately need good and new products...

If anyone from Bajaj is reading... Got Damn... increase your advertising budget... and market your product better... Your probiking concept is a great initiative... but has not been a successful one so far... people are not even aware about your P200 and P220... despite of being great products... If you guys dont have decent marketing guys... hire me... I will bring the change...

Damn it.. dont know when you guys will come out of R&D labs and atleast learn to market your products in better manner... I know you guys just do... what is expected from a biking manufacturer... you set benchmarks... but also learn set a benchmark in marketing your good products...

@payeng: great info. Good work..

now the ball is rolling, and I guess this is a good start to the new year, with bajaj confirming 6 releases, and other companies to follow.

I still believe there is a market for 100cc bikes that Bajaj can capitalise. There will be people who buy bikes just looking at cee cees. Not features and USPs.

I just hope "later" doesn't mean post-July 2009 for the Ninja.

SO atlast the Launch is confirmed ...............

It should be the Sprint ...... which was hiped in the Auto Expo 2008

I just hope the 150cc plus products are from a completely new line up and not just upgrades on the existing Pulsar range!

Please share some of the ideas you have

IMO Bajaj has been marketing their products very well.... Oh wait a minute are you saying Advertising instead of marketing?

The ProBiking is a venture of a product line into a niche segment (Insert 3 Generic or BCG matrix here), and its pretty unfortunate that the economic conditions (Insert PEST analysis) do not favour a rapid increase in this segment.

There are a lot of unknown Marketing guys from a lot of manufacturers @ xBHP... you just messed one of your chances

Guys, sorry for the small OT but :--> Are Monoshocks costly compared to Twin setup?

I mean, Can't these guys update the entire range to a particular Monoshock brand, and enjoy Economies of scale?

Pardon me, if it's a silly question ... but it has haunted me for the past 6-8 months... It's about time we evolute, including commuters ... well ...

Whoa..Wat a precise of way in imparting the marketing knowledge.Couldn't have been better.

I have always considered BAJAJ as a good bike maker with superlative marketing capabilities.They are facing the sales crunch because of the tighter retail finance where most of BAJAJ bikes are bought using finance(BAJAJ Allianz).Most of the Hero Honda bikes are bought by outright cash payment and that's the reason you see HH leading the sales/growth charts.

Remember pulsarmania AD which showcased the P200/P220.None of the bike ADs could come closer to it and not to mention the brilliant Avenger "Feel like God" AD.BAJAJ doesn't lack any marketing capabilities what they are seriously lacking is looking through the long term perspective.First they claim some 2 stroke GDI engine to completely demolish the 4-stroke 100cc empire and they quietly launch XCD bike which is no different than other bikes in its segment.

The problem started when they declared to exit the 100cc segment and migrate all the customers to 125cc segment. There were this rumours spread by local dealers of competitors who took this as an opportunity in denting BAJAJ's image.


In a country where people raised questions on Unicorn's monoshock commenting about its lack of stability and its susceptibility to breakdown when subjected to bad roads, you won't expect all the bike makers following the cue and plonking the thing which people wouldn't mind to raise stick against it!!

Evolution is there but in India's case it's pathetically slow!!

A correction to your statement. BAJAJ Allianz is an insurance company and they have nothing to do with the finance part. In fact, one is free to choose from any leading financer/bank for any vehicle that he chooses...be it a BAJAJ/TVS/HH/Honda or any other product.

IMHO, where Bajaj fails to capitalize is the perception of "fill it, shut it, forget it, never maintain it, kick it and it will take all punishment" gathered by HH.
Just look at the two wheeler parking lot at any multiplex or Mall and you will understand. In Pune, if you visit any mall/multiplex two wheeler parking, it will look like a HH stockroom/warehouse.
just plain OT this is...I met my carpenter today, who is making some furniture for my new house and he had a splendor. casually talking to him , he said that he wants to sell this one for a better bike...so out of typical xBhpian curiosity I asked which one and he replied "the new bright colored passion" and I asked why not any other and this was his reply...
"saab hero honda jaisi quality aur average aur kaha milega...motorcycle showroom se nikalne ke baad se beechne tak bas kapda hi maarna padta hai...mere gaadi ka servicing toh pichle ded(1.5) saal se nahi karna pada...koi dusri motorcyle ko maintainence bahut lagta hai"

PERIOD!!

Oops My bad...Yeah it's Bajaj Auto Finance.What i meant was most of BAJAJ bikes are pushed to avail finance from BAJAJ and BAF usually provide lower down payments for BAJAJ vehicles.