Bajaj Auto, India’s largest exporter of motorcycles and three wheelers, reported a marginal profit of 1% in its motorcycle sales for the month of March 2014. It sold 2,70,591 units as compared to 2,67,037 units in March 2013. The company also reported a 17 per cent surge in exports during the month with 1,18,183 units being exported as compared to 1,01,374 units in March 2013.
However, total sales in the financial year 2013-14 saw a drop of 9 per cent, at 38,70,090 units as compared to 42,37,162 units in the financial year 2012-13. In the commercial vehicles category, its sales stood at 33,739 units for the month of March 2014 as against 34,194 units in the same month previous year, down by 1 per cent.
Honda has already taken down the Pune based manufacturer, pushing them to the third spot in India. Bajaj has a lot of work to do if it wants to combat both Hero and Honda. The entire Pulsar series is all set to get a major upgrade soon including Pulsar 150 & 180 twins. And hopefully that will make the wheels rolling for them again. They are launching Discovers after Discovers and have some plans to capture the lower end of the spectrum.
*Upcoming Pulsar 150NS/180NS under test. Click pic for more spyshots & details
The customers are also eagerly waiting for the Pulsar SS200, and the bigger siblings, Pulsar SS400 and CS400.
Bajaj’s partnership with the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM has been a great business strategy and has reaped high rewards to both the companies.