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Informist, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

 

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--Bajaj Auto: EV portfolio faced supply constraints in Jul-Sept 
--CONTEXT: Bajaj Auto mgmt's comments at post-earnings press conference 
--Bajaj Auto: GST rate cut, festive sentiment gave fillip to Q2 performance 
--Bajaj Auto: Saw broad-based export sales growth in Jul-Sept 
--Bajaj Auto: Rare earth magnet supply situation more stable now 
--Bajaj Auto: South India two-wheeler sales rebounded from Q2 slowdown FY25 
--Bajaj Auto:Don't see festival season 2-wheeler sales growth rate sustaining 
--Bajaj Auto: Saw some commodity inflation in September quarter 
--Bajaj Auto: Expect two-wheeler industry to fare better Q3 than in Apr-Aug 
--Bajaj Auto: See some commodity inflation in Dec qtr, similar to Sept qtr 
--Bajaj Auto: Want to stay competitive on pricing, planning no discounts
 

 

MUMBAI – Bajaj Auto Ltd.'s two-wheeler sales rebounded in southern India during the September quarter, after seeing a slowdown in corresponding quarter of 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). Sales from southern and northern India led the growth in volumes during the quarter, with one-fourth of the company's total sales coming from southern India, a top official said in a press conference after the company's Jul-Sept earnings were announced Friday.

 

Sales in the central, eastern, and western parts of the country also recorded double-digit growth during the quarter, the official said.

 

The company expects growth of the two-wheeler industry to be better in the December quarter than the growth in Apr-Aug. In Apr-Aug, the industry growth was flat to marginally negative, but the company does not expect this to continue in the December quarter, given the festival season and pent-up demand as customers delayed purchases to avail benefits of lower goods and services tax rates.

 

To maintain its competitiveness in the market, the company said it reduced prices on the models on which the GST rate was reduced to 18% from 28?rlier, absorbing the GST cost within its realisation. However, the company does not plan to offer further discounts going ahead to stay competitive on pricing across its portfolio, the official said.

 

Bajaj Auto passed on the benefit of a GST rate cut to 18% from 28% on motorcycles under 350 cubic centimetres, commercial vehicles, and spare parts. However, the government increased the GST on motorcycles above 350 cubic centimetres to 40% from 31?rlier. Following this, the company either kept the prices unchanged or lowered them on the vehicles in the 400 cubic centimetres and the 390 cubic centimetres portfolio to prevent widening of a gap between the two segments.

 

The company recorded 36% on-year growth in exports, which were at a record high even though in volume terms it was still lower than the peaks touched in FY22, the company official said. The sales growth in exports during the quarter was broad-based across markets globally.

 

Sales in Africa, Asia, and Latin America grew in double digits during Jul-Sept, with Latin America recording all-time high sales, he said. The company exported 80,000 units of commercial vehicles in the September quarter, breaking the range of 15,000–20,000 units a month, he said.

 

The company plans to expand the capacity of commercial vehicles over two phases between December and June to be able to cater to the augmented demand. It sold 60,000 units of KTM and Triumph motorbikes combined, with a 50:50 split between domestic sales and exports. With the launch of KTM Duke 160, the company expects significant volume growth in this category.

 

The automobile giant also plans to consolidate its KTM business into its results as a subsidiary starting 2026. The company will rename Pierer Mobility AG, a listed company in Austria which is the holding company of KTM, to Bajaj Mobility AG. For now, the company will continue to be listed on the stock exchanges in Switzerland and Vienna.

 

Due to rare-earth magnet supply constraints ever since China curbed its export and that of related magnets in April, Bajaj Auto was able to deliver only 80–85% of its planned volume of electric three-wheelers and only 50% of the planned volume of electric two-wheeler Chetak during the September quarter. "...the supply situation today is a lot more stable and I think you will start to see the momentum on Chetak come back right," Dinesh Thapar, chief financial officer of Bajaj Auto, said.

 

The company has re-homologated the entire traction motor range of high rare-earth magnets with low rare-earth magnets. The automobile maker has "looked to broad-base supply on LRE (low rare-earth magnets) from countries outside of China and those measures started to kick in and stabilise supplies in September and so October has been a lot more stable," the official said.

 

During the September quarter, the company witnessed higher input costs with a net cost of inflation of about 40 basis points largely because of higher steel prices. The Jul-Sept performance was also impacted by sharp inflation in rhodium, palladium, platinum, copper, and rubber prices.

 

The company expects inflation in commodity prices in the December quarter to continue at similar levels seen in the September quarter. "...we've not covered for inflation costs in quarter three but I'm hoping that the tailwind that we have on foreign exchange realisation should be able to offset that," the company official said.

 

When asked about the momentum in sales growth after the festival season concludes, the company official said he does not expect the growth rate to sustain. There was pent-up demand that came in after the GST rate cut followed by festival demand, he said.

 

The Pune-based automotive major reported a net profit of INR 24.80 billion for the September quarter, on a revenue of INR 149.22 billion. On Friday, shares of the company closed flat at INR 8,721.50 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Simran Rede and Anand JC

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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