Bajaj Auto gears up for an export push with its Kawasaki alliance. The company has finalised a Pulsar-led strategy to enter ASEAN markets and Brazil and also plans to launch the Pulsar in Thailand and Malaysia in 2014. A little over a year ago, this alliance was stitched and the whole idea behind it was that Bajaj will be using the network of Kawasaki in many of these growing markets to enter these countries.
Now within Bajaj Auto they feel that this alliance will reach fruition in the coming one to two years. Therefore, 2014 and 2015 will be two critical years for Bajaj Auto. The company has finalized their strategy to enter the markets of Thailand and Malaysia which is likely to happen in 2014 followed by the Brazilian market sometime around 2015.
This is going to be a Pulsar led strategy. So, the company may look at reengineering the Pulsar and exporting it to these markets. Hence, the strategy is very clear to position itself as a premium bike-maker.
The Brazilian market is by far the largest South American two wheeler market and if Bajaj successfully enters this market, it will only be the second two wheeler maker from India because the engine requirements in Brazil are very different from the engine requirements in other places. This is because engine requirements in Brazil is ethanol based.
What works to Bajaj's advantage is that it is already exporting branded bikes to Brazil through their alliance with KTM. So, as far as the issue of conforming to their requirements are concerned, that is well taken care of.
TVS had also entered the Brazilian market about a year back but that did not really translate into big numbers.
On this development, Rajiv Bajaj said that the company is looking at these markets because he feels that these are going to be the crucial growth markets which Bajaj on its own may not be able to penetrate successfully. That is why it is going to use the network and the brand of Kawasaki to do so. They are looking at an overall export volumes of about half a million, in the medium-term, through their alliance to Kawasaki which he added will be achieved in about three years time.
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