In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, said there has been a visible improvement in demand and that the existing capacity at Chakan may fall short in 12-18 months.
Bajaj Auto has unveiled the new Pulsar series of bikes — the A-S 150 and the A-S 200 — that aim to target buyers looking for an affordable adventure sport bike, says Ashmit Kumar of CNBC-TV18.
Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto said acute situation in two key markets, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, is to be blamed for negative export growth in February.
JV Adhia, VP Accounts & Finance, Atul Auto and Basudev Banerjee, AVP-Research, Antique Stock Broking spoke about the outlook on the auto space with Anuj Singhal and Latha Venkatesh on CNBC-TV18.
The company‘s Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj said sales were impacted by the hike in excise duty, and also that the domestic market for motorcycle remained sluggish.
Bajaj Auto sees headroom for growth in exports and is hopeful of maintaining its margins of around 18-20 percent going ahead.
Vikram Kirloskar believes the auto industry grew just 2-3 percent last year but this year it is expected to double its growth to around 5 percent.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto believes that the company should not have communicated Discover as a 100cc brand. It was always positioned as a 125cc motorcycle.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto says the company‘s inventory level currently stands at 4-5 weeks and it will meet its 4 lakh unit sales target by the fiscal-end.
P Vijayaraghavan, director at TVS Srichakra says the company registered a growth of around 20 percent in the second quarter over the year-ago period.
Rajiv Bajaj says festive season sales have been good, but not extraordinary. Total sales for October stood at 3.86 lakh units versus 3.99 lakh units m-o-m, with Discover 150cc sales at around 28,000 for the month.
Bajaj Auto has planned two new launches over the next four months. The company expects its Pulsar to clock 60,000-65,000 units per month going ahead.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18's Siam president Vikram Kirloskar said the two-wheeler space has improved tremendously and so have exports. "The auto sales are a mixed bag, while commercial vehicles continue to slow down," he said.
Honda is concentrating on expanding its leadership in the scooter segment, which is the only segment leading the industry growth.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Rajiv Bajaj said the auto market is finally seeing signs of bottoming out and that the company is looking to add to its 19 percent market share with new models such as its recently-launched next-generation Discover 125cc.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto says the company is on course to regain its lost market share in the domestic segment.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto said a steep decline in volumes, (-10 percent in motorcycles and -25 percent in three-wheelers), and the company not passing on higher input costs of its upgraded three-wheeler model were the main reasons for the lackluster quarterly performance.
Bajaj Finance's Q3 PAT is up 21 percent. However, the company took an accelerated provisioning in Q3 (a one-time number), adjusted for that, it would have been a 30 percent profit growth, says Rajeev Jain.
Terming the widespread disappointment with the UPA government's performance as a 'positive crisis', the Bajaj Auto MD said the build-up had forced peeople to think about alternatives.
Sanjiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Finserv brushed aside rumours of Bajaj Auto being worried about the impact on exclusivity deal if Bajaj Finance were to get a bank lisense. Bajaj Finance infact continues to have strategic deals with Baja Auto, he adds.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto says poor sales (lower than 2 lakh units) are likely to continue even in December as the company will observe an annual shutdown.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18's Ronojoy Banerjee, KTM's CEO Stefan Pierer said that the company is also eying setting up new assembly lines in Columbia and Thailand as it seeks to hit total sales of 200,000 units globally in the coming three-four years
Bajaj Auto is hopeful of recovering its market share in the two-wheeler segment with new launches lined up. It is also optimistic on better exports going forward.
Bajaj Auto lost 2 percent market share in the two-wheeler segment during the quarter, and is hoping to recoup it through the new variant of the Discover model. Rajiv Bajaj is expecting strong festive season sales to boost the company‘s bottomline, as festive sales typically increase 70-100 percent every year.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto says the Q2 is known as the most difficult quarter because it comes in between the marriage season in the first quarter and the festive season in the third quarter.