Bajaj Auto had earlier announced that it has plans to launch an all new commuter segment motorcycle for the Indian market towards the end of this calendar year. However, in a recent interview, the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, Rajiv Bajaj revealed that the 100cc commuter bike would in fact be launched in January next year. This year, the company is focusing on strengthening their position with the new Pulsar 200NS and the Discover 125ST. Rajiv Bajaj is of the opinion that the company will first protect its market share in the current segments in which it operates. After that it will be moving on to the 100cc space.
Shedding some light on the upcoming commuter bike he said that this motorcycle will be one of the most technically advanced 100cc bikes in the world. That would definitely make it expensive than its rivals like the newly launched Honda Dream Yuga but he is confident that customers will be willing to pay the price for the technical gadgetry they will be receiving. Bajaj Auto might be trying to carve out a niche market segment like say a premium commuter but any 100cc customer will be putting value-for-money and practicality in his priority list. Will the new 100cc commuter be able to achieve that needs to be seen.
In the September-November period, Hero MotoCorp has lost its market segment from 54% to about 48% which is a big loss to Hero’s market share. On the contrary, its erstwhile partner Honda’s market share has gained from 7.5% to 12.5%, a 5% point upward move in which the main contributor was its latest launch, the Dream Yuga. Going by the data, customers prefer the Dream Yuga to Hero’s equivalent. This goes on to explain how challenging the 100cc segment is in terms of product competition and customer requirements.
