Bajaj Auto has divided the company’s two- and three-wheeler businesses into four core brands to enhance focus and devise a clear future strategy.
Not only has Bajaj decided to exit the scooter segment completely, it has also decided to use the ‘Boxer’ brand for low-cost motorcycles which are being manufactured in China and exported to various countries in Africa and Brazil. The Boxer brand has no presence in India.
Then, the ‘Bajaj’ brand would be largely used in India for various commuter and sports bikes and the KTM brand would house premium motorcycles. But all commercial vehicles would no longer have the ‘Bajaj’ tag and be brought under a new brand name called ‘Re’.
“Traditionally, ‘Re’ was put on our three-wheelers to denote a rear engine vehicle. We have now decided to badge all commercial vehicle products under ‘Re’, in line with what a lot of global companies do. This will give a distinct brand identity to CVs…Toyota brands cars as Toyota but trucks as Hino, we want to adopt a similar branding strategy. Our CVs will not carry the Bajaj badge now,” managing director Rajiv Bajaj said here on Wednesday. This branding decision assumes significance since Bajaj remains the largest three-wheeler maker in India and is also eyeing entry into the light CV market.
Bajaj also announced the decision to completely exit the scooter segment by March next year, citing low sales of its lone model ‘Krystal’ and the need to focus exclusively on motorcycles. Coming to domestic bike sales, he also admitted that Discover and Pulsar brand umbrellas would be used to drive the company’s sales. So does this mean the ‘Platina’ and ‘XCD’ platforms are being phased out? Bikes on both these platforms are only being used for exports and have no presence now in the domestic market.
Meanwhile, Bajaj introduced a new version of Pulsar motorcycle with a lower engine capacity, in an attempt to tap budget-conscious consumers and challenge Hero Honda and TVS Motor.
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