Bajaj‘s Discover family comprises the offered a variety of bikes catering to a variety of audiences. The Discover 125, in particular, was in great demand and loved by many people. That lead Bajaj to think that they would have success by launching the same bike with a smaller 100 cc segment engine. On paper, it seemed to be a good plan but it turned out to be a bad decision which caused a drop in Bajaj’s market share and position in the market. We hope Bajaj learns from its mistake and do the necessary research before launching such a product again.
In a candid conversation with PTI news, Rajiv Bajaj said, “We lost our position and five years later we lost our performance too. If 125cc Discover sells so much then how many would a 100 cc Discover sell? We went ahead and made the 100cc discover. We started off as a point of difference, with a different perception and a USP, but we ended up being a ‘me too’ product. Me too is bad in life and marketing.” The Discover 100 was outshined by its competition and not many people preferred the Bajaj over the other players in the market. The TVS Radeon also is a new entry to this market and only time will tell how good or bad it does.
Also Read: Is Bajaj Going to Discontinue the Non-ABS Version of the Dominar?
The Bajaj Discover 100 was offered in two variants – M and T. The mechanical bits like the chassis, suspension and other parts were shared with the Discover 125 sibling, the only difference being the engine on offer. The 102 cc air-cooled engine was offered in two stages of tune for the two variants. The M variant developed 9.1 bhp at 8,000 rpm along with a peak torque of 9.02 Nm at 6,000 rpm and the T variant made 9.3 bhp and 9.2 Nm of torque. Both the bikes got a 5-speed transmission as standard.
