Boxer 125: Bajaj’s sub Rs 25,000 bike
According to some reports in the media, Bajaj has started manufacturing its low cost 125cc bike in China. This bike, which will be sold in China, Nigeria and some of Bajaj's other exports markets, will be branded 'Boxer' instead of 'Bajaj.' The 'Boxer' branding will also be used in India, when the bike is launched here by end-2009 or early-2010.
Bajaj's low cost Boxer 125 is expected be priced at around Rs 22-24,000. Since the company does not want to associate itself with such low-priced budget bikes, it will sell these bikes under the Boxer brand rather than use the Bajaj name. To begin with, Bajaj will manufacture around 20,000 units of the Boxer 125 per annum at its plant in China. About 75% of the total production will be sold in Nigeria.
Currently, Bajaj's cheapest motorcycle is the Platina 100, which sells for around Rs 35,000, ex-showroom. Bajaj's chief competitor, Hero Honda also sells a bike in this segment - its CD Dawn is priced at Rs 33,500, ex-showroom.
Both Bajaj and Hero Honda believe they can significantly boost their motorcycle sales by launching bikes that cost around the Rs 20,000 mark. The primary market for these ultra low cost bikes would be rural India, where these bikes could replace bicycles and mopeds etc. While motorcycle buyers in bigger Indian cities gravitate towards style and performance, purchase price and fuel-efficiency are still the two most important factors for motorcycle buyers in smaller towns.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Changed Plans For Two Wheeler Market
The two-wheeler pecking order is witnessing a change. The market leader Hero Honda Motors gained ground and consolidated its pole position while No. 2 Bajaj Auto lost market share to relatively smaller and newer players such as Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and even India Yamaha Motor.
The gap between Bajaj and TVS Motor Company narrowed to less than 1.5 lakh units overall, triggering concern whether Bajaj would be able to maintain its second position in the domestic pecking order this year.
Information from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) showed the gap between overall sales of the two companies is just 2.7 lakh units; in the scooter segment and HMSI (654,319 units) continues to be streets ahead of Bajaj (9692 units).
Surjit Arora of brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher said "Hero Honda's mobike share went up to 59.4% between April and February last fiscal, whereas Bajaj's slipped to 22.3%. But the massive decline reported by Bajaj last fiscal may well be contained going forward".
In addition to this, Yamaha Motor is picking up steam, after several rounds of restructuring of local operations and the introduction of a strong product line-up. For Honda Motorcycle, a solid grip on the scooter market and increasing penetration in bikes augurs well.
[Via: Infibeam]
TVS Motor aims 15 per cent of premium bike segment
TVS Motor Company has said that its is expecting to garner a 15 per cent marketshare in India in the premium bike segment. The company has revealed that at least 2.5 lakh Apache RTR bikes have been sold in the country since its launch three years back. As against 4 per cent year-on-year growth in the premium bike segment, TVS has registered a growth of about 32 per cent in this segment.
India's third largest two-wheeler company has said all this on the sidelines of a mass delivery function hosted by them on 19th September in Hyderabad wherein about 250 bikes were handed over to customers. Currently, Andhra Pradesh is currently the second largest market for premium bikes in India after Delhi.
According to a senior representative of TVS Motor Company, Apache is the result of TVS's racing heritage and has been designed to woo youngsters both on looks and performance. He also added that nearly 60,000 to 70,000 bikes are sold on an average, depending on the market trends. He also said that the newly-launched Apache RTR Fi will help the company in enhancing its marketshare in the premium bike segment in India. The model is currently sold in selected cities and would be available countrywide shortly.
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