Pune-based motorcycle major Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) gets ready to take Hero MotoCorp head on and challenge the latter’s stranglehold in the commuter bike segment by bringing in a product that it believes will be a game changer.

“I think we have disproved many myths and this year we are going to disprove one more myth,” Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, said.

Addressing shareholders at the (de-merged) company’s 8th AGM here, Bajaj said, “There is a myth that when it comes to commuter motorcycles, the position of Hero is unshakeable, even Honda has not been able to shake it. This is primarily because those who ride commuter bikes do so mindlessly to work and back. They don’t really look for a sexier motorcycle.”

Asserting that it was typically believed that only younger riders looked for such products, Bajaj said that the company was set to present a product in around six months time that would be a game changer. “It will do to the commuter bike segment what the Pulsar was to the sports bike segment in 2001,” he said. The company also showcased the unmarked product in a short audio-visual film that was screened at the meeting.

Dipping market share

Bajaj Auto’s new game plan comes in the wake of dipping share in the domestic market which had fallen to a low of 15 per cent in the first quarter of FY15. While this has recovered to 18 per cent in the April-June 15 period, it is still some distance away from a high of the 23 per cent share it once enjoyed.

While its product portfolio in the sports and super sports bikes segment has given it a convincing market leadership, and the company has launched new products in the mileage segment earlier this year, some white spaces remain. The new product line-up will address these gaps.

Bajaj told shareholders that in his assessment, BAL is only half the company it can be. “It is very easily possible to double volumes, revenues and the bottomline, and I don’t see any reason to give up the 20 per cent EBITDA because we are in control of our costs,” he said.

Bajaj Auto will keep firing on all cylinders, enter new markets and strengthen existing ones, he added.

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