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once the country's undisputed scooter king, is planning to kick start a brand new strategy for this segment. While exiting the mass scooter market, it is hoping to create an altogether new segment: sporty scooters. The new vehicle would stand apart from existing scooter models in both looks and styling. "If it's a scooter, it has to be a sporty one. That is in our DNA," confirmed Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj in an exclusive interview with FE.
Although Bajaj did not specify when the new models would hit Indian roads, he said a designer from BMW hired for the company's motorcycles might also be tasked with drawing the blueprints for the sporty scooters. They will have contemporary designs and command a premium on price.
It makes sense for Bajaj, which was once synonymous with scooters popularised by campaigns like 'Hamara Bajaj', to exit the mass scooter segment. Today, it sells just one model: the 100-cc gearless Crystal. According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, only 154 units of the Crystal were sold domestically in November and 104 exported. Bajaj's cumulative domestic scooter sales during the April-November period were 3,356 units and overseas sales 728 units.
"Scooters did not sell according to our expectations. We are making hardly 1,000 scooters a month, mostly for export. Now, our focus is on motorcycles," Bajaj said, adding that the company wants to become the largest bike player in the world, without setting a timeframe.
In the motorcycle segment, the company concentrates on four brands: the Boxer (mainly catering to the export market), Discover (for the mass market), Pulsar (for the premium and youth segment) and RE (the three-wheeler model). Bajaj is by far the largest three-wheeler maker in the world. The company on Wednesday launched a 135cc Pulsar, priced at Rs 51,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), pushing the brand into the mass segment. It expects a sell a minimum 30,000 units a month of the new model. The automaker had recently refreshed the entire Pulsar line-up and expects total Pulsar sales to cross 80,000 units a month.
Although Bajaj did not specify when the new models would hit Indian roads, he said a designer from BMW hired for the company's motorcycles might also be tasked with drawing the blueprints for the sporty scooters. They will have contemporary designs and command a premium on price.
It makes sense for Bajaj, which was once synonymous with scooters popularised by campaigns like 'Hamara Bajaj', to exit the mass scooter segment. Today, it sells just one model: the 100-cc gearless Crystal. According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, only 154 units of the Crystal were sold domestically in November and 104 exported. Bajaj's cumulative domestic scooter sales during the April-November period were 3,356 units and overseas sales 728 units.
"Scooters did not sell according to our expectations. We are making hardly 1,000 scooters a month, mostly for export. Now, our focus is on motorcycles," Bajaj said, adding that the company wants to become the largest bike player in the world, without setting a timeframe.
In the motorcycle segment, the company concentrates on four brands: the Boxer (mainly catering to the export market), Discover (for the mass market), Pulsar (for the premium and youth segment) and RE (the three-wheeler model). Bajaj is by far the largest three-wheeler maker in the world. The company on Wednesday launched a 135cc Pulsar, priced at Rs 51,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), pushing the brand into the mass segment. It expects a sell a minimum 30,000 units a month of the new model. The automaker had recently refreshed the entire Pulsar line-up and expects total Pulsar sales to cross 80,000 units a month.
Ps- I have'nt read the article yet
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