Bajaj Auto plans to bring in some action in the ageing middle segment of its motorcycle portfolio in the second half of the current fiscal.

“Our middle segment is a little weak,” conceded S Ravikumar, President, Business Development, who was speaking after the company announced its results in May.

“We will address this and you will see lot of action on this front in the second half of this fiscal year,” he added.

the Pune-based company saw its motorcycle sales in the Indian market fall from 2.1 million units in FY-14 to 1.8 million units in FY-15, a decline of nearly 15 per cent year on year.

In the same period, motorcycle sales in India registered a growth of 2.5 per cent, according to SIAM data. Bajaj’s market share, too, fell to an all time low of 15 per cent in the middle of the previous financial year, though it had recovered a little to around 17 per cent by the end of March, due to new launches in the entry level (CT 100, new Platina) and premium Pulsar segments.

“It has been quite some time since Bajaj Auto has launched a new product in this executive segment, while competitors have brought in new brands,” said an auto analyst with a stock broking house, requesting anonymity.

As of now, the Discover is the only Bajaj Auto product in this segment, and the only action from the company over the last some years has been bringing out refreshed products of the same brand. “There is stiff competition in this segment and the Discover product cycle is over,” he said. In the same vein, Bharat Gianani, auto analyst at Angel Broking, said the myriad variants of the Discover caused confusion among the consumer with regard to its positioning.

Though the brand was a huge success till 2013, it had since begun to flag, he added.

“Bajaj Auto has hinted that it would launch a new bike in this segment around the forthcoming festive season and we will have to see whether it is a brand new bike or another variant,” Gianani said.

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