Can Avenger help Bajaj Auto boost flagging market share?

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Shweta Mungremoneycontrol.comBajaj Auto’s weak November sales has increased concerns about the company’s operating performance in the near future.In an interview to CNBC-TV18 last week, S. Ravikumar, President – Business Development, Bajaj Auto, said the company was confident of regaining market share in the domestic motorcycle segment through the recently launched variants of the premium Avenger model.

Bajaj Auto’s domestic market share in motorcycles is around 18 percent, down from a high of about 27 percent in 2011.

A similar attempt to regain market share through Discover variants earlier in 2015 has not worked. And that makes some auto analysts skeptical.

“We believe the performance track record of Bajaj’s new launches in recent years does not give us much confidence that Bajaj would be able to recoup its earlier market share losses (900bps over the FY12-15),” says a recent note by broking house Ambit.

“Furthermore, new product launches from competitors (Hero, Honda, TVS and others) would present headwinds to Bajaj regaining market share in the domestic motorcycle space,” the note says.

Broking firm Edelweiss too is circumspect if not outright skeptical.

“The pace and sustenance of domestic market share depends on the company’s execution capabilities given the past performance,” says the Edelweiss note.

Still, the response to the new Avenger series has been encouraging, with the company selling around 13,500 units in November, and having a production target of 20,000 units for December.

But, making things difficult for Bajaj in its turnaround effort is the lower demand for motorcycles in rural markets because of deficient monsoon and its adverse impact on farm produce.

Also hurting Bajaj Auto is its absence in the scooter segment at a time when customer preference is tilting that way.

Broking firm Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research sees a stronger growth in demand for scooters relative to motorcycles due to increasing urbanization, improving road conditions, and weak rural demand for motorcycles in the near-medium term. Additionally, other advantages of scooters like convenience, unisex appeal and increasing mobility need for women will further prompt the shift from motorcycles to scooters.

Goldman Sachs has cut its two-wheeler demand forecast for FY16 to 3 percent from 7 percent citing weak motorcycle sales outlook due to over 50 percent volume exposure of this segment in the rural market.