We have been hearing a lot for the past couple of months that Discover is the brand that Bajaj would shed its maximum concentration on in order to boost its sales figures. Now, the company has succeeded in this new strategy by crossing the 1.75 lakh mark in the sales figure of Discover in the state of entrepreneurs – Gujarat. As a result of this great success, the company has decided to open 3 more dealerships in the state with the intention of taking the lead in the two wheeler market out here.
The company recently opened its 39th dealership in the city of Ahmedabad. Presently, Bajaj Auto’s market share in Ahmedabad is around 35 per cent and with the opening up of more new dealerships, the company is targeting 40% market share here with a 5% increase.
This is what Mr.S. Sridhar, President of Motorcycle Business, Bajaj Auto said about the Discover brand. “We (Bajaj) launched the DTS-i powered Discover 100 in July 2009 and it has reached the volumes of more than 80,000 per month within a year of its launch. We next launched the Discover 150 in May 2010 which gave the Indian consumer an opportunity to own a 150cc bike at an affordable price. This strategy gave us instant results adding 35,000 units to the company’s sales”.
He also added “Many a time rural customers find it difficult to get the required because they lack bank accounts or salary slips. Hence a customer who is without a bank account, salary slip or a guarantor can pay the financier a lump sum or a fixed amount any month depending on his requirement based on his ration card and voter’s id. We have already sold 3 lakh motorcycles under this scheme in the country.”
Vimal Sumbly, Deputy General Manager, Bajaj Auto, said, “Since its launch in 2009, the overall Discover volumes stand close to 1.2 Lakh units per month across India with the launch of this model, we plan to clock volumes of 1.5 lakh per month for fiscal 2011-12.” He said this in Ahmedabad when he was there to inaugurate the new showroom here.
He overwhelmingly responded about Bajaj Discover’s success in Gujarat. “The Discover is a highly accepted model in Gujarat with ever-increasing sales. This model grew by 152 % to 8,526 in 2010-11 and currently sells close to 12,000 in Gujarat.” To increase its rural penetration, Bajaj Finance, a sister concern of Bajaj Auto has a started the discount direct cash collection scheme and selected 1300 locations across India out of which 150 are in Gujarat.
For a company like Bajaj Auto which has perfect strategies in its list and has a good customer base in Gujarat, the company is sure to reach its short term target of 5% increase in sales figure.
Wish the same response continues for the yet to be launched KTM 200 motorcycles as well. Eagerly awaiting for the same.
Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in
