No rift with sons: Bajaj

Bajaj Group patriarch Rahul Bajaj on Saturday said the so-called rift between him and his sons, especially Rajiv, was “created by the media.” He was responding to a query whether he regretted his statement that he was hurt by his son’s decision to discontinue production of the iconic Bajaj scooters.

“The media has created the so-called rift between my sons and I. My son Rajiv is a good businessman and is doing a good job as the managing director of Bajaj Auto. Mediapersons put these words into my mouth, during an interview with a television channel,” Bajaj retorted.

“Rajiv was right in his decision to discontinue the scooters business by the end of next March. The market has changed and the demand is for gearless scooters today, but we are still stuck with the geared ones. So, it was a good move,” senior Bajaj said at the Indian Merchants Chamber here.

He added, “I still agree to disagree with my sons on many matters. At the same time, I am happy that they are running the business in right direction.”

Early December last year, Rajiv had announced the 50-year-old scooter brand Hamara Bajaj, which over the years has become a household name in the country, would become history from end-March 2011. He added the group would be concentrating on bikes from next April to accelerate growth in the bikes segment, as part of the company’s aim to become the world’s biggest bike maker.

Rahul Bajaj had reacted to it, saying he was not only unconvinced, but was “hurt” by his son’s decision. “I feel bad, I feel hurt,” Rahul had said.

“I can’t say ‘harm the company and its shareholders by doing something you should not do. But, I am still not convinced. Rajiv has tried to explain it to me,” Rahul Bajaj said in an interview mid- December last year.

To this Rajiv had said, “I care less for the solution from emotions, I believe more in the magic of logic.” The senior Bajaj said on Saturday having decided to stop the production of scooters did not mean they would not revisit the segment.“At present, our bikes are doing extremely well. We may look at re-entering the scooters arena, may be with a new technology as the market is gearless scooters,” he said.