Bajaj Auto to set up engineering design centre in Spain, new company in Brazil

The Spanish EDC will allow Bajaj to work closely with partner KTM’s Austria and Triumph’s UK-based technical centres. The three companies are cooperating on vehicle and engine technologies. Bajaj’s Pune-based factory is producing and exporting KTM and Husqvarna branded motorcycles and will soon produce Triumph bikes.

Thailand centre becomes operational

Bajaj Auto further stated that it has obtained all approvals in Thailand to set up an International Business Centre (IBC) and an EDC under the subsidiary, Bajaj Auto (Thailand).

While the start of activity was delayed by the pandemic, the EDC is now operational and international designers are operating from this new facility in Bangkok. It marks a new beginning for Bajaj Auto’s R&D expanding its design centre to trend-defining markets around the globe. Full-scale operations, including IBC, are likely to commence in FY22, the annual report further added.

Though Bajaj Auto is the third-largest two-wheeler brand in India, it is the largest exporter of two-wheelers and exported nearly 1.8 million two-wheelers during FY21.

With a share of 51 percent in two-wheeler exports, Bajaj Auto’s motorcycle exports were more than double, compared to domestic volumes, as per data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) for April and May.

Bajaj Auto claims to be among the top two manufacturers in several countries in Africa, where it sells more than a million motorcycles a year. Latin America could become the next big market for the company, where it recorded the highest-ever volumes in many key countries, such as Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru and Bolivia.

Brazil’s two-wheeler market is the largest in Latin America, and the eighth-largest in the world. While Brazil’s two-wheeler market is nearly 1 million, it is dominated by Japanese heavyweight Honda, commanding a market share of 80 percent.