Bajaj Auto, India’s top two-wheeler exporter, is now neck-and-neck with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) in the 125cc-and-above motorcycles segment, said the company’s managing director Rajiv Bajaj. He attributed this growth to their “two-pronged” approach: besides its own range of motorcycles, i.e. the Pulsar and Dominar range, Bajaj Auto sells products of partner brands like KTM, Husqvarna and Triumph.

1. Bajaj sold 1.55 million bikes in the 125cc and above category in FY2023-24, up from 1.16 million a year ago
2. Pulsar NS400Z launch may help Bajaj overtake Honda in terms of sales

“We used to lag them (Honda) quite a bit. As Indians, we feel very proud; there are no Indian companies which have done it in the car segment. But in the motorcycle space, there’s an Indian company in the 125cc and above category (which is) on the verge of leadership in the sports motorcycle segment,” Bajaj said at the launch of Pulsar NS400Z on Friday.

In the financial year 2022-23, Bajaj Auto sold 1.16 million 125cc-and-above bikes, 2.9 lakh units less than HMSI’s 1.45 million. It narrowed that gap to 1 lakh units with sales of 1.55 million units in the following fiscal, during which it introduced two new Triumph 400cc motorcycles that brought in additional sales.

And the gap is even smaller if one looks at the vehicle e-registration data on the Vahan portal, clarified Bajaj. “If you see the Vahan data (for the) last month, it suggests our market share is about 32 percent – neck-and-neck with Honda’s.” Now, with the addition of the all-new Pulsar 400 range, Bajaj Auto hopes to overtake its Japanese rival.

Bajaj also believes there’s a huge headroom for growth in the midsize bikes (250-750 cc) segment, which sees annual sales of about 1 million units. Bajaj Auto controls a fourth of this market. The newly launched Pulsar NS400Z, along with additional variants on the same platform, and the next-generation Dominar, which is currently being developed, would help the company grow its volumes.

“We feel quite confident about this two-pronged approach. We should continue to march forward,” Bajaj stated. The MD also added that the strategy has been adopted across all the market segments the company operates in – be it electric scooters, three-wheelers, commuter bikes or the premium motorcycle segment–and that would help them build their stronghold across categories.  

With inputs from Prerna Lidhoo