Expansion in the two-wheeler market is more important for helping a firm increase its grasp geographically rather than an attempt at significantly boosting the sales, particularly when one talks about players in the Indian bike market. Bajaj Auto, one of India’s most popular bike makers, has planned to raise the level of its exports in order to make increase the brand’s reach across the globe. In addition, the firm would be looking to widening its domestic sales by launching several new products in the Indian domestic market as well, thereby giving headaches to rivals like Honda and TVS.
Eric Vas, who is the President of Motorcycle Business at Bajaj Auto, spoke about how the firm plans to raise its level of sales in the market by increasing both domestic sales and exports. While the current domestic sales for a month average at 168000 and go up to 180000 through exports, Bajaj Auto expects to increase this number significantly in coming months and both areas would be focussed on equally.
The official addressed the media on the sidelines of an even in Andhra Pradesh, where the new Bajaj Discover was launched. Talking about the particular model only, Vas said that this launch is going to raise the domestic sales of Bajaj Auto by 20000 units in a month, which is quite significant.
Explaining the plans regarding exports, he said, “The company accounts for big export volumes to markets such as Nigeria, Egypt, Colombia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Most of these supplies are shipped as CKD kits (completely knocked down units) and are assembled in the destination markets. We may consider further localisation of assemblies in markets where we export.”
Adding further Vas said, “We continue to increase exports by increasing volumes in the countries where Bajaj Auto is already supplying motorcycles, but also looking at new markets.”
The President of Bajaj Motorcycle business sounded really optimistic while talking about the international market and the potential it possesses. “We export more than 50 per cent of the bikes we make across three manufacturing facilities and are keen to up our share in the global market place. There is a big market out there for motorcycles and we have the range to cater to various segments. Even the proposed multi-cylinder bikes which we plan to make will be targeted at our export markets,” he said.
