Bajaj to expand Dominar 400 retail network

Bajaj Auto, which officially launched the Dominar 400, its most powerful motorcycle, on December 15 last year in two variants with a starting price tag of Rs 136,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), is looking to further ramp up availability of the model. The company plans to ensure ready stock of the Dominar 400 in 80-100 cities across India by end-March 2017. Deliveries for the Dominar 400 had commenced in January across 22 cities. In January 2017, the company reported sales of over 3,000 units of this model, which indicate a positive response in the domestic market given the model’s premium segment and price bracket.

Speaking to our sister publication Autocar Professional recently, Eric Vas, president, motorcycle business, Bajaj Auto, said, “When we had launched the Dominar 400, our MD (Rajiv Bajaj) said that we want to eventually sell around 10,000 units of this model every month. The initial response has been very encouraging. Initial rollout has been across our dealerships in 22 cities.”

“In January, our production capacity (for the Dominar 400) was around 3,000 units per month. We are gradually moving that up. In February, we might be able to make more than 3,000 units. We aim to hit the production capacity of around 5,000 units by April; subsequently, we will take it further up because this is a sophisticated product and the supply chain needs time to ramp up its capacity,” Vas further added.

Laden with premium tech

The Dominar 400 is the first motorcycle from Bajaj Auto to be equipped with premium technologies such as a twin-channel ABS system, slipper clutch, all-LED headlamp – all segment- first features. Offering sophisticated technologies on a premium product also means preparing servicemen to handle all technical aspects of the Dominar 400.

Parallel to adding new dealerships to the Dominar 400’s pan-India availability, according to Vas, a lot of work is being done in the backend. The company is working with its dealerships to raise standards across sales, service and spare parts, which also includes intensive training for technicians and servicemen to prepare (them) for the Dominar 400.

In this context, Vas remarked, “Setting up a reliable service support is very important for us. We don’t ship the bike to a dealership unless the training compliance is received from them.”

“We have made a number of changes which are required for dealers if they want to sell this product. There is a package of upgrading all our dealerships, all customer touch-points and sales and service outlets. Raising the standards of technical servicing was easier because we already have technicians who are familiar with this level of technology (thanks to the Pulsar RS 200). We already have ongoing training for technicians and servicemen for the Dominar 400 across many dealerships. I think we are in a good position to effectively have close to 80-100 cities by end-March,” disclosed the senior company official.

According to Vas, the Dominar’s availability across 80-100 cities would mean nearly 200 Bajaj Auto dealerships by the end of this fiscal year.