Each of the three motorcycles is said to get a new variant by June as Rajiv Bajaj expects them to attract more customers
Bajaj Auto is expected to launch new variants of the entry-level CT and Platina series of motorcycles by June 2019. It could also include a Pulsar 125cc variant. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, broke this news in a media interview as the three models were confirmed to get one new feature each upon arrival.
He further stated doing “something very remarkable with our CT, Platina and Pulsar brands”. Bajaj said his people between marketing and R&D have come up with some “really smart ideas”. The one newer product in each motorcycle range will be “very, very innovative”. They target at attracting more buyers into the fold.
Rajiv Bajaj declined to comment further on the new variants but we expect the homegrown brand to introduce cosmetic updates as the latest Neon range and focus on interesting commercial advertisements to drive growth in the second half of this year.
With the new variants, he hopes to narrow the gap from the second quarter onwards as the total sale of four lakh units monthly has been targetted when considering both domestic volume and exports. He cited commodity and marketing costs as the main reasons for the drop in margins last year.
With the premium motorcycle space largely growing, Bajaj could expand its Pulsar range or explore new avenues to create a niche of its own. A 250 cc version of the Pulsar using mechanicals from Duke 250 has long been speculated to reach the market as well and it could become reality sometime next year.
Bajaj sold a total of 2,20,213 units in the final month of the financial year 2018-19. As a whole, the Pune-based manufacturer retailed 25,41,320 units at a massive sales increase of 28.7 per cent. It finished ahead of Royal Enfield, Yamaha and Suzuki, as the latter was the only volume brand to better Bajaj’s growth at 33.44 per cent.