The Hindu Business Line : Bajaj to focus on brands, profitability

Reacting to falling motorcycle sales, the Bajaj Auto Managing Director, Mr Rajiv Bajaj, said, “Bajaj is about making automobile products that make money. If tomorrow, four wheeler business makes money, we may look at that. We won’t be in the mainstream car or truck business and we don’t want to be another rat in the rat race.”

Bajaj, the second largest bike maker in the country by volumes, would be rolling out two bikes – XCD DTS-i Sprint in the 125 cc engine and a new Discover 150 cc DTS-i – and a new sporty scooter, Blade DTS-i of 125 cc in the next 12 months.

Apart from these, Bajaj also plans to launch its high end bikes in collaboration with Kawasaki and KTM.

Small cars, bigger bikes

“The world is moving towards small cars and bigger bikes. And Bajaj Auto is also moving in the same direction,” said Mr Bajaj.

He also said that he did not view the year that went by as bad for the company or the industry despite the company registering a steep decline in motorcycles sales.

He said that, “Last year was a great year. One could distinctly see a qualitative shift which is far more important than numbers.”

Bajaj has been saying that it would like to graduate its customers from 100 cc segment to the next level.

The company said that the 100 cc segment which accounted for 90 per cent of its revenues in 2001-02 has come down to about 30 per cent.

More Stories on : Outlook | Brands | Two/Three Wheelers | Bajaj Auto Ltd

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