Bajaj Auto Word Final Doc

HAMARA BAJAJ- THE RISING STAR

REPORT SUBMITTED To

Dr.HIMANI SHARMA

Submitted by:

Khushboo Chawla D-09

Tanya Nagpal D-11

Renuka Tarale D-16

Himani Madaan D-19

Barkha Puri D-20

Poonam Singh D-22

INTRODUCTION TO BAJAJ AUTO LIMITED

Bajaj Auto Limited (Bajaj Auto) is a manufacturer of scooters, motorcycles and three-wheeler

vehicles and spare parts thereof. The Company operates in two segments: Automotive and

Investments. The group's flagship company, Bajaj Auto, is ranked as the world's fourth largest

two- and three- wheeler manufacturer. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, the

Company sold 4.35 million units, consisting of over 3.83 million motorcycles and more than

515,000 three-wheelers. Bajaj Auto is the flagship of the Bajaj group of companies. The group

comprises of 34 companies and was founded in the year 1926.

The Bajaj Group is amongst the top 10 business houses in India. Its footprint stretches over a

wide range of industries, spanning automobiles (two-wheelers and three-wheelers), home

appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance. Bajaj brand is well-known

across several countries in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, South and South East Asia.

Founded in 1926, at the height of India's movement for independence from the British, the group

has an illustrious history. Jamnalal Bajaj, founder of the group, was a close confidant and

disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. His son, Kamalnayan Bajaj, took over the reins of business in

1942. Kamalnayan Bajaj not only consolidated the group, but also diversified into various

manufacturing activities. The present Chairman of the group, Rahul Bajaj, took charge of the

business in 1965. Under his leadership, the turnover of the Bajaj Auto the flagship company has

gone up from INR.72 million to INR. 120 billion, its product portfolio has expanded and the

brand has found a global market. He is one of India’s most distinguished business leaders and

internationally respected for his business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit.

Bajaj Auto's has three plants, Two at Waluj and Chakan in Maharashtra, One at Pant Nagar in

Uttranchal. Bajaj is present in over 50 countries all over the globe. It has Dominant presence in

Africa, Latin America and South Asia with increasing market share every year.

It Offers The Following Range Of Products.

Scooters Cars Motorcycles Upcoming Models

Discontinued Models

Bajaj Kristal DTSi

Bajaj Lite conceptBajaj

Platina 100ccBajaj XCD 125 sprint

Bajaj Sunny

Bajaj RE60 - the Tata Nano competitor

Bajaj Platina 125 DTS-Si

Bajaj Chetak

Bajaj Platina 125 DTS-Si Bajaj CT 100

Bajaj Discover 135

DTS-i

Bajaj Super

Bajaj XCD 125 DTS-Si

Bajaj Saffire

Bajaj XCD 135 DTS-Si

Bajaj Wave

Bajaj Pulsar 135Bajaj Legend

Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi

Bajaj Discover 110cc

Bajaj Pulsar220 DTS-Fi

Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi

Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSi

Bajaj Discover DTS-i

125cc

Bajaj was initially a producer of Scooters only but slowly ventured into producing bikes as

well. So, what led to this shift in focus?

Bajaj Auto is one of the oldest and the second largest two wheeler manufacturer in India. In

addition to coping with fierce competition from other players in the two wheeler segment, it also

has to protect its market share from the impending onslaught of low price small cars such as Tata

Nano. Holding on to its position in such a challenging market environment requires innovative

strategies and deep understanding of consumers needs.

The jingle promised that it would stay with Indians for today and tomorrow as a Strong Symbol

of a Strong India, and two generations grew up humming the tune. But finally when the India of

the license-permit raj gets to take its seat at the global high table, the scooter that got Indians

there is fading away. Bajaj Auto, whose name has been synonymous with scooters in India for

decades, has stopped producing the vehicle. The company had stopped making the Chetak, once

the world's largest selling scooter in 2006.

In the 1960s, Bajaj Auto got a manufacturing license from Italy’s Piaggio and began

manufacturing and selling scooters under the brand name Vespa. In the seventies, when Piaggio

refused to renew its license, Bajaj began manufacturing under its own brand, like the Bajaj

Chetak, which was an instant success and even witnessed black marketeering with consumers

ready to pay a hefty premium to own one. But with the market moving towards motorcycles,

Bajaj stopped production of its bestselling brands like Chetak and Super in 2006 amid

plummeting sales. It again entered into scooters, but tentatively, in 2007 by launching the Kristal.

Till the 1980s, Bajaj was a value for money brand, churning out scooters with names like

Chetak, Super, Priya et al. They all looked the same and any one could tell they belonged to the

same family. In fact, Bajaj had various brands under its umbrella and their brand identity

remained “Humara Bajaj”. In the absence of any outside competition, the Bajaj brand name

flourished, with Chetak ruling the two-wheeler scooter segment. There was a time, getting

delivery of a Chetak used to command waiting periods of years, so much so that Rajeev Bajaj's

father and Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj once dared the government to arrest him for

exceeding government permitted production limits. Bajaj’s pithy but pitch-perfect base line,

“Humara Bajaj” struck a chord in every Indian heart while the title song of “Buland Bharat Ki

Buland Tasveer” added great value to its scooters.

During the ’80s and ’90s, Bajaj launched quite a few variants of Chetak and other newer models.

But deviations from the main Piaggio design did not always prove successful. The failures

started with the Bajaj Rave that the company promoted as a step-through design for an earlier

model, launched in the early 1990s. Next came the Stride, which was a more plasticky Chetak.

The Bravo, too, was derived from the Chetak but did not go well with buyers. The Legend,

which was a four stroke version of the Chetak, bombed miserably. Next in line was the Chetak 4

stroke, which again failed to stir the market. The death knell of Bajaj’s scooter business was

sounded when the company officially stopped the production of its flagship Chetak in December

2005. In bringing the curtains down on Chetak the company said that the product no longer had

any relevance to the customer, thus ending the saga of ‘Humara Bajaj’.

By the mid 80s and 90s, the two-wheeler segment had started shifting to motorcycles. Scooters

were no longer the attractive option they once seemed to be. Motorcycle sales started rising in

1990’s and by 1999 motorcycles overtook scooters in sales for the first time. It was a clear

indication of shift in consumer preference. The move is part of Bajaj’s new strategy to overtake

Honda and become the number one motorcycle manufacturer in the world. It is the second-

largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India. Hero Honda, which was established in 1984 by Hero

Group, and Honda Motor Corporation of Japan had been reaping the benefits of this trend. Bajaj

entered the motorcycle space in 1986 with the launch of Kawasaki Bajaj KB100, in a tie-up with

Kawasaki of Japan. But the company found itself lagging behind players such as Hero Honda,

Yamaha and TVS, who dominated the market and had carved up the business amongst

themselves. In order to succeed in the motorcycle segment it was important for Bajaj to shed its

brand image from being a scooter manufacturer to a motorcycle maker. Earlier scooter as two-

wheeler vehicle symbolized the middle class Indian families but now the bike symbolizes middle

class India. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, reasoned the shifting from scooters to

bikes that in order to become a motorcycle specialist and number one in the world, they have to

make a sacrifice, of manufacturing both motorcycles and scooters.

To get cracking on its ambition of becoming a credible motorcycle manufacturer, the company

built a new plant near Pune, away from the old plant at Akurdi. It invested big income in R&D

and product development. The company also had to face challenges of sales & distribution and

marketing & advertising. So far Bajaj’s dealers had been selling scooters; ergo, they had little

idea how to sell motorcycles. So the entire dealership network was trained to sell motorcycles.

Finally, in November 2001, Bajaj Auto launched Pulsar 150 & 180. The very first generation

Pulsar was equipped with an 18-litre fuel tank, muscular look, disc brake (which was considered

a novelty in that time), self start option, aircraft type filler, a unique speedometer with an rpm

metre and, above all, power plants which could generate massive 12 bhp and 15 bhp with power-

to-weight ratio of over 100bhp/tonne. The entire project took 30 months time and cost around

Rs. 1 billion. But it became an icon of performance brand in the country and has held on to that

position ever since. Nowadays every single second bike sold in the performance segment is a

Pulsar, which shows its dominance in the Indian marketplace.

The decision to move away from scooters, according to Bajaj, is pegged on three reasons. Firstly,

the company saw good profitability in selling strong brands like Pulsar and Discover 100cc

motorcycles. The EBITDA margin for the second quarter of year 2009 was at 22 per cent,

which was the highest in the auto industry so far. For the third quarter of same year they hoped

to do better. Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking, told that margins derived from selling

Pulsars were above industry average, at 15 per cent.

Secondly, MD thought the worldwide motorcycle market is growing faster than scooters. There

was enough headroom for growth both in the domestic and the export markets. In 2009 Bajaj

manufactured around 50,000 units of Boxers in China, which were sold in the export market. The

Boxer was sold as Platina in India.

Lastly, to address the top end with KTM motorcycles. The company had a 31.72 per cent stake

in Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM, which manufactured motorcycles of 250cc

configuration.

So, Bajaj made more money by being focused as motorcycle specialists rather than producing

everything and making no money at all.

THE ROAD BLOCKS….

The deceleration in growth in the Indian two wheeler industry was contributed mainly by the

motorcycles segment which grew at a much lower rate of 9.2% (YoY) in Q3, 2011-12, even as

the scooters segment continued to post 20% (YoY) expansion. In an environment where the

northward movement of inflation, fuel prices and interest rates has been the nemesis of the

Indian automobile industry at large, the 2W industry has been the most resilient reflected in its

healthy volume growth of 15.0% (YoY) in 9m, 2011-12. The main competitors of Bajaj Auto

have been Hero Moto Corp, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), Yamaha Motors,

Suzuki Motorcycles etc.

As per the Financial year 2011-12, Hero Moto Corp has been the largest share holder in the

Motorbike Segment. Bajaj Auto being the second largest has a share of 19.1%. Its other main

competitors are HMSI , TVS etc. For Bajaj Auto Ltd., once its capacity enhancement programme

will be started, it would be able to produce 5.7 million two-wheelers and 600,000 three-

wheelers /four-wheelers annually across the company’s three plants. Moreover, the company

would utilize the available capacity to roll out new variants of its mainline brands--’Pulsar’ and

‘Discover’.

The goal of Bajaj Auto Ltd. is to become a bigger, better and stronger motorcycle manufacturer

on a global basis. Their every move is aimed at going up the value chain and maintaining their

profitability and increase their market share. With sales of around 3.8 million units, Bajaj has a

share of over 10 per cent in the 35-million-strong global motorcycle market. The company

records as much as 47 per cent of its overseas sales from Africa.

In order to be in pace with competitors, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) had decided to boost its capacity

by 25 % and has planned to increase its total output to 6.3 million vehicles. Its competitors are

also not far behind. While Hero Moto Corp is considering setting up a fourth plant to take its

annual capacity over seven million units, HMSI is in the process of establishing a third facility in

Karnataka, which would take its production capacity to four million units by 2013.

LEGAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL) is one of the leading players in the two-wheeler market, the second

largest two-wheeler market in the world. The company's dominance in the scooter segment of the

market, and its eventual fall was against the customer tastes and preferences. It described the

reasons for the shift in demand and discusses the initiatives that the company undertook to regain

lost ground. It was reported that the 125 cc motorbikes accounted for 55 percent of all bikes sold

in India and the share would only grow in the future as the popularity of 100 cc bikes declined.

ECONOMICAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Bajaj Auto has got its strategy cut out. In a trying economic environment, it has plans to leverage

its strong brands in the bigger (125cc +) motorcycle segment of the two-wheeler industry and the

smaller three-wheeler segment of the light commercial vehicle industry. This has worked for the

country’s second largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the past and has proved as an advantage

for the company in form of higher prices, a richer product mix, and lower cost of sales.

POLITICAL BUSINESS OF BAJAJ INDSTRIES

The world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer had reiterated its acknowledged market leadership

by recording an impressive 25% growth in sales for the financial year 2011-12. The focus of

Bajaj Auto is on building strong brand identities through extensive campaigns and on ground

marketing activities. It is also exploring previously untouched rural markets.

TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

Bajaj Auto's latest two-wheeler plant has sprung up having a rocky terrain interspersed with lush,

green fields fall behind as the plant nears. The Bajaj's Chakan plant which did not work in the

year 2000 now has a capacity to make six lakh two-wheelers in a year. The plant which makes

Bajaj's Pulsar has its sales at the highest and would capture 70% market share of the premium

end of Motorcycle market.

As it progressed, Bajaj started facing competition and difficulties. To overcome those it adopted

newer set of marketing strategies and promotional tools.

Bajaj goes by the philosophy that a brand can have just one positioning. The positioning that

each brand occupies in the mind of the customer has to be one, preferably unique. So, what Rajiv

Bajaj is trying to do is exactly right because today the Bajaj brand means too many things to too

many people.

In a bid to gain market share as well as mind share, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) is drawing up an

ambitious game plan which includes extension of its distribution network, new product launches,

marketing initiatives and fresh ad campaigns. For starters, the two-wheeler company is planning

to expand its Bajaj dealership network to touch 500 in the current financial year.

As for the rationale behind the company’s expansion plans, says Bajaj Auto Ltd vice-president

(marketing) RL Ravichandran: “With this move, we want to reach out to a wider target audience.

At present, we have 450 dealerships across the country. We plan to add 50 more dealers in the

rural and semi- rural markets in India.”

With Bajaj Auto Finance’s tie-up with ICICI and the State Bank of India, people in small towns

can now buy BAL brands. The company is also planning to spend a sizable portion of its ad

spend to promote new products such as Bajaj C100 and Discover, he added.

As part of its marketing strategy, the company plans to focus on outdoor media and ground

promotions to popularise its new launches. It also plans to host road shows to showcase the

merits of its new products in both the urban and rural markets.

Currently, Bajaj Auto’s advertising is handled by four agencies which include, Leo Burnett,

Ogilvy & Mather, Lowe India and Quadrant. The company has roped in Ogilvy & Mather to

handle the ad account of Discover.

The company is gearing up to launch Discover, a 125cc motorcycle in the executive sector. Bajaj

Discover, which will come in two variants, is expected to hit the roads within a week’s time. As

for the new launch’s target audience, says Mr Ravichandran: “Anybody who can spend Rs

40,000 for a stylish Mobike which also offers fuel efficiency.”

Incidentally, Bajaj Auto is planning to launch a high-voltage ad campaign in the first week of

October this year to popularise Discover, inform ad industry sources. “Mass media campaigns

will be supported by outdoor media and promotional activities,” add sources.

In the Indian motorcycle industry, Hero Honda leads the pack and the other major players

include TVS Motors Company and Kinetic Engineering, among others.

Bajaj has been striving hard to be the No. 1 in Indian two wheeler segment. Despite its effort it

not able to beat the Hero Honda, as Hero Honda has dominated the market for quiet a long time

and has created a good brand name. Among a great percentage of people, Bajaj bikes are better

than Hero Honda in terms of price, mileage and maintenance.

Intense competition was beginning to hurt sales at home and abroad during the calendar year

1997. Bajaj's low-tech, low-cost cycles were not faring as well as its rivals' higher-end offerings,

particularly in high-powered motorcycles, since poorer consumers were withstanding the worst

of the recession. It was then, when the company invested in its new Pune plant in order to

introduce new models more quickly. The company spent Rs 7.5 billion ($185 million) on

advanced, computer-controlled machine tools. It would need new models to comply with the

more stringent emissions standards slated for 2000. Bajaj began installing Rs 800 catalytic

converters to its two-stroke scooter models beginning in 1999.

Bajaj Auto had quadrupled its product design staff to 500. It also acquired technology from its

foreign partners, such as Kawasaki (motorcycles), Kubota (diesel engines), and Cagiva

(scooters). 'Honda's annual spend on R & D is more than my turnover,' noted Rahul Bajaj. His

son, Sangiv Bajaj, was working to improve the company's supply chain management. A

marketing executive was lured from TVS Suzuki to help push the new cycles.

Several new designs and a dozen upgrades of existing scooters came out in 1998 and 1999.

These, and a surge in consumer confidence, propelled Bajaj to sales records, and it began to

regain market share in the fast-growing motorcycle segment. Sales of three-wheelers fell as some

states, citing traffic and pollution concerns, limited the number of permits issued for them.

Strategies that are more visible to customers were:

Mobilising India — by supplying 4 million motorcycles out of a projected market of 10

million.

Globalising India — by rapidly enhancing exports and international facilities to become

among the three largest global player in two-wheelers.

Financing India — by ramping up the group’s financial operations.

De-Risking India — by expanding the group’s life and general

Pan India presence - Bajaj has showrooms evenly spread throughout the country. It also

sells premium segment bikes through pro-biking showrooms owned by company

Some of the famous ads include:

The very first TV commercial of the Bajaj Discover DTSi in 2004 featured Jackie Chan.

New Bajaj pulsar DTS-Fi 220 made the song ‘Hamara Bajaj’ widely famous.

Pulsar Mania-bike stunts of different range

New Pulsar 135 ad shows that a robber robs the bank and disappears within minutes promoting

its logo of the ‘The Fastest Bike’.

The introduction of Pulsar was executed with a completely different approach and a “Definitely

Male” positioning. Bajaj kept coming up with better products like the Pulsar 180cc, then the

Pulsar DTSi followed by the 200cc and 220cc Pulsars. The concept of “Definitely Male” was

well accepted by the people and Bajaj came out with some astonishing ads. Though the DTSi

technology was new, people accepted it very well. It easily conveyed the message it wanted to.

In 2004, Bajaj completely revamped its identity, gave up the “Humara Bajaj” umbrella and came

up with a completely new enhanced positioning focusing more on the technology and

experience. With a new, sharp brand logo, Bajaj pressed itself as “Digital Biking” and

“Distinctly Ahead”. By 2006, Bajaj Pulsars became the most popular motorbike product in the

newly emerging 150+ cc class of the Indian two wheeler market. The company has been

regularly making alterations to it to make the motorbike look fresh at all times. Bajaj today holds

over 50% market in the premium segment (for April-November 2011) followed by a distant

second-largest player Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India with a 19% market share. The

company has not only expanded its Pulsar range with the launch of a 135cc variant that has taken

the Pulsar portfolio across the 135cc-220cc segment over the past few years, it also launched the

Discover in the entry-level as well as the premium segment and it today has a presence across the

110cc and 150cc segment. 

The market showed positive response and Bajaj started to grow and it adopted the

following Growth Strategies.

Bajaj Auto increased its sales and growth by engaging itself into strategic partnership with

foreign companies like Piaggio and Kawasaki.The mid-nineties also witnessed a dramatic shift in

the preference of Indian consumers, from stolid scooters to bolder bikes.

By 1999, motorcycles had overtaken scooter sales for the first time in the country. Bajaj Auto

was at crossroads — mobikes accounted for only a fraction of two-wheelers sold, and inflexible

systems, manpower and mindsets all contributed to the company being relegated from top dog to

the No 4 position, behind Hero Honda, Yamaha and TVS Suzuki.

In 2001 Bajaj Auto launches its latest offering in the premium bike segment 'Pulsar'. Before the

introduction of the Pulsar, the Indian motorcycle market trend was towards fuel efficient, small

capacity motorcycles (that formed the 80–125 cc class). Bigger motorcycles with higher capacity

virtually did not exist (except for Enfield Bullet). The launch and success of Hero Honda CBZ in

1999 showed that there was demand for performance bikes. Bajaj took the cue from there on and

launched the Pulsar twins in India on 24 November 2001. When the Pulsar was ready for launch

— the 150 cc and 180 cc models hit the road in November — Hero Honda ruled the roost with

100 cc bikes. Almost the entire bike market was 100 cc, and Bajaj were fast losing ground to

Hero Honda. The Bajaj Auto strategy was clear-cut : offer exactly the opposite of what the

leader was. If Hero Honda was talking about fuel efficiency, Bajaj made power its

proposition. The focus on power and muscular styling had to be the product differentiator, even

as the rest of the industry was riding on the more predictable platforms of fuel efficiency and

price. This led to a shift from the familial 'Hamara Bajaj' for Bajaj scooter’s slogan to the brash,

individualistic, testosterone-dripping 'Definitely Male’ of Bajaj Pulsar.. Since the introduction

and success of Bajaj Pulsar, Indian youth began expecting high power and other features from

affordable motorcycles.

In 2003 The second generation Pulsars featured Bajaj Auto's newly developed DTSi technology,

which increased the power rating of both versions by 1 hp (0.75 kW) each and also increased

fuel economy. 107,115 Motorcycles sold in a month. DTSi technology has been patented by

Bajaj Auto, which boosts the performance of the engine and while simultaneously cutting

emissions. The DTSi technology actually incorporates two sparkplugs (instead of one as in case

of normal motor engines) at either ends of the combustion chamber of the engine.In 2004 Bajaj

Discover, Bajaj Avenger DTS-i and Bajaj Wave DTS-i was launched.

In 2005, Rajiv Bajaj, Rahul Bajaj’s elder son, became the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto. He

has been instrumental in focusing Bajaj Auto on motorcycle manufacturing, driving down costs

and raising productivity in the company’s operations while investing heavily in research and

development. He was instrumental in being more brand centric than placing Bajaj automobiles

under single ‘ Bajaj Umbrella’.

In September 2007 Bajaj Auto launched the motorcycle Bajaj XCD 125 DTS-Si. It clocked up

sales of 18,000 units in its first month and sold around 28,000 units per month. On January 2009,

a 135 cc version of XCD was launched. Bajaj reported that more than 20,000 units of XCD 135

were sold in its first month of launch  Due to reduced sales, the 125 cc version was discontinued

by Bajaj on November 2009, followed by the 135cc variant. Bajaj XCD was the first 125 cc bike

in India to feature LCD instruments in the console. In 2007 RE GDi autorickshaw , Bajaj XCD

125 DTS-Si , Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi was launched

Even though Bajaj on its own is a global player, that is not where it wants to keep itself. In 2009,

Renault-Nissan and Bajaj Auto reached to an agreement in which Indian automaker  was

supposed to design, develop and manufacture the product, which was intended as an ultra low

cost car, priced at USD 3000, while the alliance would sell it under their badging.

This is a significant move because it directly competes with Tata NANO. Bajaj has also

displayed its small car prototype in the Delhi auto expo in 2012. It promises double the mileage

as compared to any car in the economy segment and is also considering the option of introducing

Diesel and LPG variants. The four wheeler segment will also be able to hedge any risk that might

arise because of the two wheeler industry and would profit from retaining consumers switching

from two wheelers.

In 2010, the tie- up between Bajaj, the Austrian motorcycle company KTM and Kawasaki,

was conceived with a very different motive. That of a supreme dominance. All the three

brands have their own legacy behind them. Kawasaki has the legacy of having the largest

product range, KTM having its own legacy of lust evoking bikes and Bajaj having its own legacy

of its age and reliability. Their alliance is based on the pretext of mutual benefit and the ability to

share tech seamlessly between the three such as to maintain their current range of products but

still be able produce components common to all three brands.

According to Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto , on alliance with KTM; ” we will have a front-end

support of the KTM brand, which will have enormous price leverage, and on the other hand, we

will have Bajaj Auto adding the cost structure with enormous price advantage. We want to have

the correct combination of price and technology”. The tie-up with KTM fits in with Bajaj's

ambition of going for larger and sportier bikes, desired for the international market. Both

companies have been actively involved in the creation of high-performance motorcycles since

the past couple of years but which are developed on a far better cost structure, thanks to the

back-end price support of Bajaj Auto. It is one of the growth strategy of BAJAJ auto to have

alliances with foreign partners for their technical support and to increase its market growth.

Bajaj auto strategy is brand centered at the front end and platform based at the back end.

So the key to profitable growth, in every market that they participate in, is their ability to

continually improve the alignment between new categories and current core competencies.

That is, they need to figure out how to take what we know and do well and to make it appeal to

consumers in other markets. They also need to learn to do this in a manner that’s not just

appropriate for Bajaj brands but also harmonious with those of our global partners, KTM and

Kawasaki, which operate, predominantly, in markets in the Northern Hemisphere.

THE ROAD AHEAD……

The automobile industry in India has witnessed a rapid growth over the last couple of decades

and in recent years it has also captured the attention of the whole world with some innovative

products. It includes manufacturing of cars, two-wheelers like motorcycles, scooters, bikes,

passenger cars, trucks, tractors, defense vehicles and buses. The automobile industry can be

widely divided into car manufacturing, heavy vehicle manufacturing and two-wheeler

manufacturing. It requires a skilled and trained manpower with good technical knowledge.

India is the major three-wheeler market and two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. Some of the

popular car-producing companies that offer jobs in the automobile industry are- Suzuki, Toyota,

Tata, Fiat, Honda, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ford, Hyundai and Skoda. Manufacturing of two-

wheelers is dominated by the companies TVS, Bajaj Auto, LML, Kinetic, Yamaha and Hero

Honda. The Indian auto sector has been experiencing high growth for quite some time. By 2020,

auto component industry set to grow to US$ 113 billion. The industry has shown a growth rate

with CAGR of over 16 percent in the current year. It is anticipated that India's share of global

auto parts' business would rise from 0.9 percent (2008-09) to 2.5 percent by 2015.The auto

component industry has established sophisticated engineering skills, production lines, a thriving

domestic sector and a competitive cost structure.

According to Bajaj Auto, the year 2012 will be its year of investment. The company is

developing all new breed of its Pulsar and Discover range of motorcycles which will be launched

in the second half of the financial year 2012-2013. Bajaj Auto will also launch Boxer, KTM

Duke 125 or 200c in the same year. Boxer will be targeted to the rural customers where Hero

Honda Splendor is market leader. Boxer will be positioned as utility motorcycle. The reason

behind re-launching Boxer is rural segment is not ready for high priced Discover brand. Besides

this, Bajaj Auto will launch its much awaited small car with the amazing price of 1,50,000 and

30 Km/liter for the Lower income group. The new Pulsars and Discover are being developed on

a new platform and will have next generation technology.  After the launch, Bajaj Auto expects

its market share to increase up to 40 – 50 % from current 27% in the domestic market.

The new range of bikes is a part of the company’s target of almost doubling its sales to 7-8

million units from 5 million units a year at present. The company hopes to increase its global

presence to 30% from current 10% within next 3-4 years

The business will continue on the strategy to focus on Brand building. Growth in exports for the

Company for the financial year 2012-13 in both motorcycles and three wheeler segments is

facing some headwinds due to international events such as substantial rise in import duty in

Srilanka, trade restrictions imposed in Argentina, Dollar trade embargo in Iran. In FY2012, Bajaj

Auto sold over 3.83 million motorcycles in India and abroad. In doing so, it grew sales by 13.2%

over FY2011, which was lower than in the previous two years.

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Http://In.Reuters.Com/Finance/Stocks/Companyprofile?Symbol=Baja.Bo

Http://Www.Bajajauto.Com

http://www.fadaweb.com/itwi_june12.htm

http://automobiles.mapsofindia.com/bikes/kawasaki/

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-04/news/32537392_1_ktm-bajaj-

auto-scooter-sales

http://www.surfindia.com/automobile/industry-growth.html

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4589