Bajaj hits record sales of over 26,000 vehicles on Gudi Padwa weekend

This report has been updated.   

Two-wheeler (2W) giant Bajaj Auto registered record sales across the county over the weekend on the back of Gudi Padwa, hawking 26,938 vehicles that included motorcycles and its electric scooter Chetak. That represents nearly a sixth of its total registrations across the country for March based on VAHAN data till 31st.

 

According to the company, it also broke all records for sales in Maharashtra too over the weekend from March 29 to 30 on the festival heralding new year for Maharashtrians. The sales more than doubled compared to last year during the same festival and are also far more than those during Diwali.

 

At an all-India level, the Pune-based company sold 19,017 motorcycles at the weekend – which is over 15 per cent of its total all-India registrations of mobikes in March. But it also sold 6,570 electric Chetak scooters, more than a fifth of the total registrations for the entire month. The company further sold 658 KTM bikes and as many as 693 premium Triumph bikes.

 

Bajaj, according to VAHAN data, has registered 30,133 electric Chetaks in March and 129,012 motorcycles, including its CNG bikes, during the month. 

 

In Maharashtra, sales hit the roof. The company created a new record with sales of 4,377 vehicles — internal combustion engine (ICE) not including KTM and triumph biked and electric two-wheelers — at the weekend (March 29 and 30), registering a growth of 117 per cent over last year’s Gudi Padwa held on April 8-9 when it sold 2,013 two-wheelers. What is even dramatic is that bulk of the electric two-wheelers (2,314 units) were sold in the state. Last year, the sales where a mere 403 electric scooters during the festival period. 

A senior executive of the company said that the record sales have been possible on the back of a huge demand for its recently launched premium Chetak 35 series, which is positioned in the over Rs 1 lakh category, a market segment that the company wanted to strengthen. The Chetak 3502 starts at a price of Rs 1.30 lakh and the upper model at Rs 1.42 lakh.

 

In the premium Rs 1 lakh and above category, Bajaj had a lower market share of around 15 per cent, which the new product is expected to push up.

 

The other reason has been Bajaj’s traditionally strong distribution network in their home turf, where bulk of the two-wheelers are produced. According to estimates, there are over 1,200 dealers in Maharashtra with a deep reach, and a total of over 4,000 dealers across the country.