More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2026

 

Please click here to read all liners published on this story

--Bajaj Auto: Will introduce new 125cc, 150cc motorcycle under Pulsar brand
--CONTEXT: Comments by Bajaj Auto mgmt in post-earnings conference call
--Bajaj Auto: Demand environment is positive, business environment volatile
--Bajaj Auto: Commodity inflation intensified further in Q1
--Bajaj Auto: Hiked vehicle prices to offset nearly half of input cost rise
--Bajaj Auto: INR fall gave cushion to manage exceptionally inflationary qtr
--Bajaj Auto:Shr in 100cc motorcycle segment dn, focusing on higher segments
--Bajaj Auto: Cost pressures have become broader, not confined to metals
 

 

By Anand JC and Gunjan Rajput

 

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI – Bajaj Auto Ltd. Tuesday said the company was planning a complete overhaul of its strategically important motorcycle segment housing two-wheelers with an engine capacity exceeding 125 cubic centimetres over the next six weeks. The company intends to launch new 125cc and 150cc motorcycles under the Pulsar brand, 10 facelifts in the 160-400cc motorcycle range, and two new upgrades in the 125cc motorcycle segment, Rakesh Sharma, executive director at Bajaj Auto, told investors in a post-earnings conference call.

 

Additionally, the company aims to introduce two new motorcycle brands in the 125cc segment to push customers in the 100cc segment to upgrade. Registrations of two-wheelers grew 14% on year in the June quarter, much lower than the 25% growth in the March quarter. This was driven by electric scooters and the 150-400cc segment of motorcycles.

 

Since November, Bajaj Auto has been upgrading and announcing new motorcycle models to address the end-of-cycle fatigue faced by certain parts of its portfolio. The company currently sells motorcycles under four brands in India – Pulsar, Dominar, KTM, and Triumph – with all of them together accounting for 40% of its revenues.

 

The company has not been focusing on the entry-level 100cc motorcycle segment as much. "While we are present in the 100cc segment, we are participating in it at our own terms," Sharma said, alluding to the fact that the company is favouring value over volume. "This is a segment which has been over the years underperforming...I am not saying that it will implode, it is soft in its size and growth," Sharma said.

 

Bajaj Auto sold 1.44 million vehicles to dealerships in the quarter under review, up 29% on year. Amid the ongoing war in West Asia and the knock-on effects such as a spike in energy prices, the Pune-based automaker said the demand environment was resilient even as the business environment was volatile.

 

In the investor call for the March quarter held in May, the company provided a sharp commentary on what it saw as an extremely inflationary situation. The company had estimated commodity inflation to be around 3.5-4.0% of its revenue for the June quarter. It turned out to be 4.5%, as the commodity inflation intensified further with price rises now being broad-based rather than being confined to just base metals.

 

"It was clearly a hyperinflationary commodity environment with virtually the entire basket witnessing sharp increases," the company's Chief Financial Officer Dinesh Thapar said. "Steel rose by upwards of 10%, aluminium and platinum by nearly 40%, rhodium as well by 40%, while copper, nickel and natural rubber also moved up quite substantially through the quarter," Thapar said.

 

The company felt the pinch across various expenses such as in proprietary components, electronics, energy, logistics and labour costs, among others. In a stark reading of the situation, Thapar said that the commodity inflation absorbed by Bajaj Auto in the June quarter was "greater than the totality of the inflation experienced over the previous two financial years put together."

 

Bajaj Auto hiked prices gradually between April and June to pass on the burden of rising costs to the customers. Yet, these hikes could cover only half of the inflation. "The balance, on margin, was absorbed through a host of factors, notably dollar realisation and discretionary cost rationalisation," Thapar said.

 

The rupee witnessed sharp depreciation against the dollar during the June quarter as war raged on in West Asia. For Bajaj Auto, which has a very significant overseas exposure, this was "distinctly favourable", Thapar said. "The rupee depreciation provided an important and welcome cushion to manage the very sharp and significant impact of an exceptionally inflationary quarter," he said. 

 

Bajaj Auto had to deal with supply chain and logistical disruptions in the June quarter, along with a ransomware attack. "We suspended operations for a few days to complete thorough checks and investigations. All of these issues combined impaired availability by about 10 to 15%, more so in exports, high-end bikes and EVs (electric vehicles)," Thapar said. Nearly 51% of the automobiles sold by Bajaj Auto in the June quarter were overseas, compared with roughly 43% a year ago.

 

The company's exports fared well in most markets it is present in, barring West Asia and North Africa, because of the war. Its exports in Africa grew almost 50% as it doubled its retail sales there. Bajaj Auto's exports did well in Latin America but disappointed in Asia due to underperformance in Bangladesh and Nepal.

 

Exports form around 40% of Bajaj Auto's overall revenues. The company is looking to export over 250,000 units per month from the September quarter. This is much higher than a few quarters back when Bajaj Auto was exporting under 200,000 units per month.

 

Bajaj Auto operates in the electric scooter segment under the Chetak brand. The company has not been able to press the pedal on exporting its Chetak scooters due to multiple reasons, one being the bandwidth of Bajaj Auto's management to develop a new category in a distant overseas market.

 

"We have stuck to the Indian subcontinent where Chetak has been launched and going well," Sharma said. Bajaj Auto will launch the Chetak in the Philippines and a few other markets, even as it plans expanding the brand's presence to other global markets.

 

Bajaj Auto disclosed its June quarter financials during market hours. Tuesday, its shares closed 1.1% lower at INR 10,403.50 on the National Stock Exchange. End

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000 /+91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.