This week in Auto | Late 'discovery': Bajaj hankers for undo shortcut after misreading consumer sentiment

Nissan board members voted unanimously to sack Carlos Ghosn as chairman on Thursday, a spectacular fall from grace for the once-revered boss whose arrest for financial misconduct stunned the car industry and the business world.

Ghosn stands accused of under-reporting his income by millions of dollars and a host of other financial irregularities, alleged after a protracted internal probe conducted by Nissan, following a whistleblower report.

Hero, Yamaha, Mitsui join hands for electric cycles

Hero Cycles, Yamaha Motor Company and Mitsui & Co have entered into a strategic partnership for technology, manufacturing and marketing of Hero electric bicycles powered by Yamaha's electric drive unit.

The first product for India to roll out from this alliance will be a high-end E-MTB bicycle, which is the same segment that has seen the fastest growth in Europe in the last year.

Maruti Suzuki launches new Ertiga

Six years after its debut, Ertiga has undergone its first major upgrade. Maruti Suzuki has launched the new Ertiga at a starting price (petrol) of Rs 7.44 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The latest Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets an all-new platform and a new petrol engine.

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga will be available in 10 variants, with the diesel and petrol models selling at Rs 8.84 lakh and Rs 9.18 lakh respectively. The latter comes with an automatic transmission.

Hyundai may temporarily halt bookings of Santro

India's second largest car maker Hyundai is thinking of temporarily halting new bookings for the Santro as the waiting period for the car has extended to over three months.

The 'tall-boy' hatchback has seen cumulative bookings swell to 32,000 units since its launch on October 10. Hyundai is looking to increase production of the Santro to meet demand, but is restricted by limited room at its plant in Chennai.

Car and bike sales lower during festive days

Cars sales ended 14 percent lower this year during the six-week festive period hit by high fuel costs, tighter credit lending terms and weak consumer sentiment.

With the festive period normally accounting for 30 percent of the full year volumes, the industry is staring at muted growth for the rest of the year with a revised volume guidance

Bajaj’s Discover fiasco

Just as the Indian promoters of Hero Honda (now Hero Motocorp) were planning to set Hero free from Japanese diktats, Pune-based Bajaj Auto was closing in on the market leader. Powering ahead for Bajaj was a more powerful option to the then market leader Hero Honda Splendor, Hero’s longest running flagship bestseller.

This option was the Bajaj Discover 125, a commuter motorcycle that was priced higher than the Splendor, but offered more power, better styling and on par mileage.

Confident of the brand Discover and egged on by the marketing department, Bajaj proceeded to launch the 100cc variant of the bike to compete more effectively and play an aggressive pricing game with the Splendor.

Bajaj did not stop there. Multiple variants and models with different engine sizes debuted under brand Discover. These included 100M, 110, 125, 125ST, 125M, 135, 150, 150F, 150S, all promising to deliver more bang for the buck.

This kind of carpet bombing did more damage than good for Bajaj, creating confusion in the minds of the consumer. Where brand Pulsar promised denoted power and performance, the Discover diluted the brand's aspirational value.

Senior Bajaj Auto official admitted that the series of launches under Discover left the consumers clueless of what the Discover actually stands for. Bajaj killed a promising brand that stood worthy of taking the battle to the doorstep of Hero Splendor.

Despite attempts by the company later on to revive the brand, demand has remained muted, forcing Bajaj to give up hope on the Discover brand.

All this while Hero refrained from tinkering too much with Splendor. Hero only moved Splendor to 125cc from 100cc, while also offering multiple variants that sported new colours and graphics, keeping the loyal consumer excited with the brand.

Hero tried to go offbeat too when it added a Classic look to the Splendor lineup. The model had few takers and the company was forced to phase it out.

At an industry forum this week Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj described the launch of the 100-cc variant of the commuter bike Discover as the "biggest blunder" of his career as it stunted the company at the No 2 position.

Another customer favourite that has retained a loyal following over the years in the Honda Active. The humble gearless scooter was introduced by the Japanese manufacturer in the early 2000s, but it has resisted the churn of time. Despite fierce competition in subsequent years, the Activa has thrived on the back of a few facelifts and its strong brand equity.

Honda too moved the Activa to 125cc from 100cc as a natural progression. The design of the Activa has also largely remained the same, with some striking new styling cues added in recent years.