Bajaj launches new range of 'Adventure Sports' Pulsar motorcycles

Bajaj Auto, India's third-largest two-wheeler maker (after Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India), on Tuesday launched the new Pulsar Adventure Sport in two engine capacities, namely the AS200 and AS150, in New Delhi. The two bikes produce 23.5 and 17 PS of power, respectively.

The Pune-headquartered company claims the AS150 is the fastest bike in the 150-cc class. The bike has been launched at a 'special' price of Rs 79,000.

The AS200, priced at Rs 91,550, is the company's third Pulsar bike in the 200-cc range - the other two being Pulsar 200NS and Pulsar RS200. The latter is the fastest Pulsar, and was launched last month.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, likened the spectrum of Pulsar bikes to BMW's range of cars, and the AS bikes to SUVs in terms of appeal to different types of customers. Putting paid to speculation, Bajaj said the 220-cc version of the Pulsar would continue. "We sell almost 60,000 Pulsars a month across categories."

The AS150 is something the company badly needed, with its share in the 150-cc segment sliding in the face of competition from the likes of Suzuki. At the same time, Bajaj Auto grew almost 15 per cent in the category.

Bajaj dominates the 200-cc segment in India; its 122,049 units last year comprising 81.5 per cent of all bikes sold in that segment. However, this segment contributes a mere 1.4 per cent of the overall sales of motorcycles in India. So this launch, while enhancing Bajaj's image as a maker of premium sports bikes, is not likely to make any positive impact on its overall sales numbers. (Overall, it has 43 per cent market share in sports bikes across engine capacities.)

In 2014/15, Bajaj barely managed to retain its No.2 slot in the Indian motorcycles market, having sold 1,770,778 bikes, marginally ahead of HMSI's 1,761,620 units. The No.1 is Hero MotoCorp, which sold 5,679,634 units in India last fiscal.

Of course, Bajaj continues to rule the exports market. Last year, it sold more than 65 per cent of all motorcycles exported from India. Even though some markets are not doing so well, Bajaj is not overly concerned. "When you have built a business as big as ours, you are inherently de-risked," he said, adding that the company is looking at 14 new markets this year for motorcycles.

But the home market is where the race is hotting up. With HMSI almost certain to overtake it this fiscal, Bajaj Auto needs to do more than just launch niche high-powered bikes to get back into reckoning. It recently did launch a refreshed version of its commuter bike Platina and reintroduced another one, CT100. Though their initial numbers are encouraging, the jury is out on whether that would help the company regain its lead over HMSI.