Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj said that amidst various successes, there has been a disappointment over events surrounding its quadricycle Qute.
“In FY2016, we exported under 400 units (of Qute) to 13 markets across the world. It was ready for introduction in India last year. Unfortunately, everything has been held up by on-going court cases, which now await a final verdict in the Supreme Court. The matter is sub-judice. All I can hope for is a positive outcome,” Bajaj said in his address to the company’s shareholders in the Annual Report for 2015-2016.
Bajaj Auto’s total sales in July were down by 4 per cent to stand at 3.17 lakh units against 3.31 lakh units in July 2015, mainly on the back of exports which were down by 21 per cent. Total domestic sales grew by 11 per cent. On the motorcycle front, sales for the Pune-based company declined by 5 five per cent to 2.73 lakh units against 2.88 lakh units in the same month of last year. While domestic sales grew by 9 per cent to 1.69 lakh units, bike exports stood 21 per cent lower at 1.05 lakh units.
Overall sales of commercial vehicles were flat at 43,671 units boosted by domestic sales which grew by 22 per cent to touch 25,092 units. Exports declined by 20 per cent to 18,579 units.
On exports, he said due to external factors, especially poor economic conditions and severe foreign currency constraints in some of the key importing countries, the company has not succeeded in equal measure — both in motorcycles and three-wheelers.