As we write this, our colleague is attending an event in Mumbai meant to share developments on Bajaj Auto’s motorcycle business. Mr. Eric Vas, President (Motorcycle Business), Bajaj Auto will address the media about the company’s progress in the two-wheeler market in the year gone by, and hopefully discuss the road ahead for new product launches and strategy of the bike maker to tackle the mounting competition.
The event has not started yet, with the media settling in. There aren’t any new motorcycles or products to be seen at the event location with the current gen products adorning the display area. It’s notable that Bajaj Auto is giving the Auto Expo 2016 a miss, so this could turn out to be the conference which the Indian bike maker utilizes to announce developments on highly anticipated products such as the CS400.
Sit back tight as we bring you all the updates from the event live. It’s just about to begin!
Update 11 : No plans for 2016 discussed, except for the launch of the new brand between the Discover and Pulsar. Somewhat disappointed. Here’s the text of the official press release
- Bajaj Auto rides ahead in Sports and Entry segments
- Becomes market leader in almost half of the Industry comprising Entry and Sports bikes with 36% market shore.
- Prepares to win in balance half with new a brand launch in Q4.
- Grows entry level market share from 23% to 36% with the introduction of CT-100 and the new Platina.
- Achieves dominant leadership in the below Rs 1 lac Sports segment with market share of 53% after the launch of the new Avengers, Pulsar RS 200, AS150 and AS200
Bajaj Auto today announced that it has achieved leadership position in Entry Level and Sports motorcycles combined. In the overall motorcycle mass market comprising Entry, Executive & Sports segments, Bajaj Auto is now the fastest growing in 2 of these 3 segments. In a challenging year for the Industry, Bajaj Auto Ltd rolled out more successful new launches than any other motorcycle manufacturer to reach the aggressive goals for 2015 that it had shared with analysts in December 2014.
In the entry segment Bajaj Auto grew market share from 23% to 36% in the first 9 months of the financial year. In the Nov-Dec period, following the launch of the new Avengers, Bajaj Auto attained a clear market leaderdhip of 53% in the mass sports segment below Rs 1 lac. The Entry and Sports segment together constitute 43% of the Industry and Bajaj is now the leader in this cluster with a 36% market share.
Speaking on this milestone, Mr Eric Vas, President (Motorcycle Business) Bajaj Auto said, “In a challenging environment for the automobile industry, Bajaj Auto maintained positive momentum as a result of a well-crafted strategy – Superior Customer Value through Differentiated Products and Strong Brands. By the introduction of new Products such as the CT100 and the new Plating, we strengthened our position in the Entry level segment. In the Sports segment we enhanced our leadership position through the launch of the Pulsar RS 200, Pulsar AS 200 & 150 and the exciting Avenger Cruise 220 and Avenger Street 220 & 150.”
The CT 100, which re-entered the Indian market last year, and the new Platina which made its debut in January, have gained market share and volumes in the entry level segment. Bajaj Auto sold 6.81 Lakhs entry level commuter motorcycles in the first 9 months of the year as against 3.83 lakh last year a growth of 77%. New high performance, international class Pulsars led by the 55200, AS200 and A5150 also did very well and gave the brand an aspirational edge. The Pulsar RS200 has become the largest selling performance bike brand priced above Rs 100,000/-. The recently launched Avengers have met with an excellent response; sales in December were 20,000 units. Bajaj Auto shall increase its production capacity of Avengers to 30,000 unit’s pm by March 2016. With a dominant position in 2 out of the 3 mass market segments, Bajaj Auto shall focus on addressing the large Executive segment with the launch of a completely new brand in this quarter.
Update 10 : New Bajaj Avenger sold more than 20,000 units for the month of December 2015, and is a big success for the company
Update 9: Here are some infographics on what the company achieved in the entry and sports segments through the year 2014. Claims it gained market share in the segments that matter. The focus will be to sustain growth in the entry, S1, S2 and S3 segments where S1 is sub 1 lakh. There will be more products in the S2 segment with the launch of a new brand in current quarter, which hasn’t been named yet.
Update 8: The inroduction of the Pulsar AS200 and the AS150 was another important step and the company does not intend to stop at these products, with more variations lined up for the future (We just hope it doesn’t go the Discover way)
Update 7 : The next segment the company targeted was the sport segment, where the Pulsar brand has traditionally been a big hit. Introduction of new products saw Bajaj’s dominance continue, though KTM also emerged a very strong player followed by Yamaha and Honda
Update 6 : Bajaj grew the entry level segment by bringing new customers in. The company’s entry level segment’s market share took a steep jump, from 2014’s 23% to 2015’s 36%
Update 5 : No talks about the offerings and timelines from the performance segment so far, but generally such conferences keep the best for last, so we are not losing hope just yet
Update 4: Bajaj Auto releases its new TVC today, highlighting the Platina ES, focusing harder on the entry level segment with the tagline ‘ Hars Raste ka Mileage Champion’
Update 3 : The company believes that the Platina and CT100 were right products at the right time and worked really well for the company. The CT100 got exported to many countries and turned into a huge success, the bike also won the best TVC award from NDTV
Update 2 : The company plans to introduce a new motorcycle model brand that will sit between the Discover and Pulsar
Update 1 : Mr Eric Vaz takes the Dias. Emphasizes that 2015 worked for Bajaj because of a well thought of strategy. The company focused on sports and entry segments and reaped benefits from its plan
