Auto
industry has been going through a slowdown, marred by a slack in consumption.
This has taken a toll on auto stocks which have been in freefall lately. Bajaj Auto NSE opened in the red following an
important announcement; the intraday
fall also paused the stock's four-day winning streak. Bajaj Auto shares were trading 0.5 per cent
down at Rs 3,004 on BSE. In the last four sessions, the stock gained 4.76 per
cent.
Till a couple of
decades ago, most middle class depended on two-wheelers and scooters were once
proud possession ~ in fact were offered
as dowries. There was this nice
advertisement - ‘Hamara Bajaj’ - Bajaj scooters were selling hot – Bajaj
dealers were minting money. Bajaj had its plant at Akurdi [no longer vehicles
roll out from here] ~ now it has at Aurangabad and Uttaranchal. … There was the
premium Bajaj Chetak, Super, Cub, Viking and more… 100 cc and 150 cc scooters
with engines mounted on the side. Chetak was launched in 1972 and ruled the
market for decades. People used to wait
for years after booking, vehicles were sold at a premium, some said they got it
by paying in foreign currency which was extremely scarce those days. Those were the days of Bajaj scooters which
had sort of forced Lambrettas out of the market; Vijay, Lamby were the other names in Scooters
while in motor cycles – it was Rajdoot,
Yezdi (Jawa) and Enfield Bullet. With
not many cars around, the 1980s & early 1990s were the age of two wheelers
and their enthusiastic riders.
Brand ‘Bajaj’ was an internationally acclaimed one. Bajaj Auto is one of the largest group
founded in 1926 at the height of India's movement for independence from the
British. Sri Jamnalal Bajaj, founder of
the group, was a close confidant and disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. Later when the market expanded towards 100cc
bikes, Bajaj was to partner Kawasaki and recently KTM too. KTM Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian
motorcycle, bicycle and moped manufacturer. The company was founded in 1934 by
engineer Hans Trunkenpolz in Mattighofen. Unlike Bajaj’s utility scooters, KTM
is known for its off road motorcycles though in recent years it has expanded
into street motorcycle production. The term off-road refers to a driving
surface that is not conventionally paved. This is a rough surface, often
created naturally, such as sand, gravel, a river, mud or snow.
A couple of years
ago, Bajaj Auto, the second largest bike
manufacturer in India launched the
second offering from the KTM stable, the Duke 390 for Rs 1.8 lakh (ex-showroom
Delhi). The Duke 390 combined 43.5 bhk
(break horse power) of peak power, 35 Nm
(newton metre) of torque and a host of features like ABS, Metzeler tyres,
aluminum swing arm, aluminum alloy wheels.
in its peak – Bajaj
Chetak was a premium brand. “ Chetak ”
was named after the legendary horse of
Raja Rana Pratap Singh. It was launched
in 1972 and ruled the market for decades.
People used to wait for years after booking, vehicles were sold at a
premium, some said they got it by paying in foreign currency which was
extremely scarce those days. There were
stories of it being unavoidable dowry in the mid 70s and early 80s. A very sturdy simple one – those days in
Bajaj vehicles, the engine was mounted
on one side and hence those owners touted that others would find it difficult
to ride. I remember taking delivery of
Bajaj Chetak after paying Rs.16200/- [all inclusive on road on Jan 1990] – and was so elated in owning it.
Now, Bajaj has become the first mainstream Indian motorcycle
brand to enter the electric space. The launch of Chetak e version, marks the return of Chetak after almost 14
years. Most of its peers were also trading in the red, pulling Nifty Auto index
down 0.1 per cent. Exide Industries was the biggest loser in the pack down 2.5
per cent, even after the company said it will start the production of
lithium-ion batteries from December targeting the emerging e-vehicle market.
With its electric
avatar, Bajaj Auto, which exited scooter
segment years ago, has made a comeback in the category, using the name of one
of its most-popular brands. The company plans to start selling electric
scooters from January, starting from Pune and then will move to Bengaluru. Any
further expansion will happen after the company analyses response to the
product. The company did not disclose price of the new scooter — which does not
carry the looks of the previous model — but said it would not be more than ₹1.5
lakh. On a single charge, the scooter comes with a range of 85 km on the ‘sports mode’ and 95 km on ‘eco mode’. The charging time
is expected at around five hours.
The e-scooter would
be rolled out from the company’s Chakan plant and would be retailed from the
company’s pro-biking dealerships which sell high-end motorcycles. The company
also plans to export the model to various markets in Europe from next year. The
e-scooter was unveiled by transport minister Nitin Gadkari in the presence of
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj. Interestingly, Bajaj
had recently called plans for a complete switchover to electrics by 2025 as
impractical and ill-timed, saying a large-scale transition will require time.
Bajaj said it wanted to be the first mover in the segment as an established
player in the two-wheeler industry.
Interesting !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
17th Oct
2019.
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