No plans of re-entering scooter market: Bajaj

Two- and three-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Wednesday refuted reports that the company would be re-entering the scooter market and said their focus would be motorbikes.

"We will concentrate on increasing our current share in the domestic as well as the global bike market. We are not launching any scooter immediately," Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj said on the sidelines of the Society of the Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) annual convention here.

The two-wheeler major had exited the scooter segment altogether in 2010 to solely focus on motorcycles.

The company reported a decline of nine percent in overall sales for August which stood at 312,188 units from 344,906 units sold in the corresponding month last year.

However, exports grew 10 percent for the month under review at 144,160 units from 131,526 units sold in the like period of 2012.

"Our current global share for bikes stands at around 10 percent. It is easier to achieve expertise in one field and increase this 10 percent to 15 percent than to launch a scooter and work towards increasing its sales from zero to five percent," said Bajaj.

However, he did hint at expanding into the scooter market, but not anytime soon.

"I am not saying that there will never be a Bajaj scooter five years or 10 years later. But as of now, there are no plans to launch one," he said.