Bajaj Not To Drive 250cc Plus Bikes For Now

Bajaj Auto will not be launching any motorcycles in the 250cc-plus category before 2004, and will be focusing on the sub-250 cc category for now, according to Rajiv Bajaj, president, Bajaj Auto.

The company, which today launched the Pulsar, a sporty sub 250 cc motorcycle in the premium segment, has lined up four new sub-250 cc two-wheelers over the next 12 months. These include the four-stroke Chetak economy scooter and the two-stroke NXT-2 performance scooter within the next couple of months, a 125 cc version of Saffire automatic scooter later next year, and a high-end motorcycle with a possible capacity of around 200 cc by end of next year.

The Pulsar is available in two versions, 180cc and 150cc. The bike has been developed by the product engineering division of Bajaj Auto in association with the Japanese design house Tokyo R&D.

The top 180 cc model of Pulsar with disc brake and electric start has been priced at a competitive Rs 53, 896, while the 150cc model with disc brake and electric start is priced at Rs 48, 923. The base 150cc version with disc brake and kick-start is priced at a lower Rs 44, 884 (all prices ex-showroom Pune.)

The Pulsar is being manufactured at the Chakan plant near Pune and the plant will have a capacity to produce 15, 000 vehicles per month, said R L Ravichandran, head of marketing at Bajaj Auto. The company is targeting sales of 1.2 lakh bikes in the first year, he added.

According to Ravichandran, scooter sales may have saturated after the not-so-encouraging sales in the previous months. November sales were expected to look up, and the company was expecting to sell around 38,000 to 40,000 scooters.

Rajiv Bajaj also said that motorcycles sales were very encouraging and that the company expected to touch a sales figure of around 70,000 bikes per month in the last quarter of the year.

Bajaj Auto's motorcycle sales have been steadily increasing, and the company which was selling about 40,000 bikes per month in the first quarter has been able to increase it to 50,000 bikes per month in the second quarter and 60,000 bikes per month in the third quarter of the year.