The sales of two-wheelers continued strong growth. Bajaj Auto sales rose 18.5% to 4.18 lakh units in September.Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of the company expects to do sales of nearly 4 lakh vehicles per month......
The sales of two-wheelers continued strong growth. Bajaj Auto sales rose 18.5% to 4.18 lakh units in September.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of the company expects to do sales of nearly 4 lakh vehicles per month. However, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview that the fuel prices will not dampen sales.
Excerpts from Bazaar on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »
Bajaj also indicated that he would see some pressure in premium segment. "We are confident of staying on target in H2FY12," he added.
Here is the edited transcript of his interview. Also watch the accompanying videos.
Q: Can you run through your numbers for the month?
A: We have had our best month ever in our history. Close to 4.2 lakh vehicles, both approximately 370,000 motorcycles and over 46,000 three-wheelers are all time highs for us.
Our exports are at 141,000, which is also one of the highest ever and highest for any September. Our growth is in the 20% region, not only for the month, but also for first half of the year. We hope to keep the momentum going into the second half as well.
Q: What about the breakup in motorcycles between Pulsar and Discover? How does it look?
A: The breakup is pretty much the same as always. About two-third of our motorcycle sales come from the Pulsar and Discover and the balance comes from Boxer and Platina.
Q: What kind of traction do you expect to see with respect to Boxer? How much did you do this month? Going into next couple of months, what will it look like?
A: In August, we hit close to 10,000 vehicles. We did almost double of that in the last month. We would look at maintaining that level going forward. We are creating a new category by a very bold initiative. It’s a 150cc motorcycle that is available to people for the first time at a particular price point.
Apart from high horsepower, performance and large size which makes it very attractive, it also automatically intimidates. We have successfully created a new category for the Bharat market. If we keep this number of 20,000 in the near future, it would be pretty good.
Q: Could you maintain the 4 lakh per month run rate in terms of total vehicles for the next couple of months at least till the end of the year or will you surpass that on the upside?
A: We did 4 lakh per month this month. In October, we will be able to do the same. Going forward from November onwards, it would be challenging to stay above the 400,000 mark. In the first half of this fiscal, we have done almost exactly 2 million motorcycles and little over 250,000 three-wheelers.
If we do the same in the second half, which is 4 million motorcycles and 500,000 three-wheelers, it would be squarely about 4.5 million vehicles. We may not exactly do 400,000 or more from November, but we should be pretty close to it.
Q: The industry has been about the higher interest rates and fuel prices that will crimp demand. We haven’t seen any of them come through, neither in two-wheelers nor in sectors like commercial vehicles, where there was an expectation of a dip. Is this just a pre-festive buying? Is the slowdown yet to come in some of these sectors?
A: There is certainly a festive element. Different sectors have been behaving differently. Different companies within a sector have been behaving differently too. This time, out of 420,000 vehicles, we exported 140,000 vehicles which automatically de-risk to that extent.
We are a large player in the three-wheeler segment. Transportation segment is also not as affected as some others sectors. Although undoubtedly, these issues of fuel price and interest hike tend to push back on growth.
There isn’t anything so severe in the market place that good products and marketing cannot overcome. I am quite confident as far as Bajaj Auto is concerned. We have stayed on target in the first half and should be able to do that in the second half.
Q: What is your current market share? How much do you plan to grow it by?
A: I would not know market share for September because I don’t have competitor figures. In August, our market share went up about half a percentage point on the whole. There is pressure in the premium segment. For the segment as a whole, the segment has shrunken from 18% of the motorcycle industry to about 15%, which puts pressure on us as a market leader.
I don’t think Yamaha has made any significant dent in the last month or two, but they have made their presence felt over the last six months or so. It is more based on price strategy. What they are selling in large numbers is almost 15% cheaper than our Pulsar.
In every sense and on every financial parameter, this last quarter has been the best ever in the history of Bajaj. It’s silly to talk about sales and market share without talking about profitability. We are here to deliver not just on the numbers but also on the robustness of those numbers.....back
The sales of two-wheelers continued strong growth. Bajaj Auto sales rose 18.5% to 4.18 lakh units in September.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of the company expects to do sales of nearly 4 lakh vehicles per month. However, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview that the fuel prices will not dampen sales.
Excerpts from Bazaar on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »
Bajaj also indicated that he would see some pressure in premium segment. "We are confident of staying on target in H2FY12," he added.
Here is the edited transcript of his interview. Also watch the accompanying videos.
Q: Can you run through your numbers for the month?
A: We have had our best month ever in our history. Close to 4.2 lakh vehicles, both approximately 370,000 motorcycles and over 46,000 three-wheelers are all time highs for us.
Our exports are at 141,000, which is also one of the highest ever and highest for any September. Our growth is in the 20% region, not only for the month, but also for first half of the year. We hope to keep the momentum going into the second half as well.
Q: What about the breakup in motorcycles between Pulsar and Discover? How does it look?
A: The breakup is pretty much the same as always. About two-third of our motorcycle sales come from the Pulsar and Discover and the balance comes from Boxer and Platina.
Q: What kind of traction do you expect to see with respect to Boxer? How much did you do this month? Going into next couple of months, what will it look like?
A: In August, we hit close to 10,000 vehicles. We did almost double of that in the last month. We would look at maintaining that level going forward. We are creating a new category by a very bold initiative. It’s a 150cc motorcycle that is available to people for the first time at a particular price point.
Apart from high horsepower, performance and large size which makes it very attractive, it also automatically intimidates. We have successfully created a new category for the Bharat market. If we keep this number of 20,000 in the near future, it would be pretty good.
Q: Could you maintain the 4 lakh per month run rate in terms of total vehicles for the next couple of months at least till the end of the year or will you surpass that on the upside?
A: We did 4 lakh per month this month. In October, we will be able to do the same. Going forward from November onwards, it would be challenging to stay above the 400,000 mark. In the first half of this fiscal, we have done almost exactly 2 million motorcycles and little over 250,000 three-wheelers.
If we do the same in the second half, which is 4 million motorcycles and 500,000 three-wheelers, it would be squarely about 4.5 million vehicles. We may not exactly do 400,000 or more from November, but we should be pretty close to it.
Q: The industry has been about the higher interest rates and fuel prices that will crimp demand. We haven’t seen any of them come through, neither in two-wheelers nor in sectors like commercial vehicles, where there was an expectation of a dip. Is this just a pre-festive buying? Is the slowdown yet to come in some of these sectors?
A: There is certainly a festive element. Different sectors have been behaving differently. Different companies within a sector have been behaving differently too. This time, out of 420,000 vehicles, we exported 140,000 vehicles which automatically de-risk to that extent.
We are a large player in the three-wheeler segment. Transportation segment is also not as affected as some others sectors. Although undoubtedly, these issues of fuel price and interest hike tend to push back on growth.
There isn’t anything so severe in the market place that good products and marketing cannot overcome. I am quite confident as far as Bajaj Auto is concerned. We have stayed on target in the first half and should be able to do that in the second half.
Q: What is your current market share? How much do you plan to grow it by?
A: I would not know market share for September because I don’t have competitor figures. In August, our market share went up about half a percentage point on the whole. There is pressure in the premium segment. For the segment as a whole, the segment has shrunken from 18% of the motorcycle industry to about 15%, which puts pressure on us as a market leader.
I don’t think Yamaha has made any significant dent in the last month or two, but they have made their presence felt over the last six months or so. It is more based on price strategy. What they are selling in large numbers is almost 15% cheaper than our Pulsar.
In every sense and on every financial parameter, this last quarter has been the best ever in the history of Bajaj. It’s silly to talk about sales and market share without talking about profitability. We are here to deliver not just on the numbers but also on the robustness of those numbers.....back