Bajaj Auto Qute quadricycle exports jump 101% to 5,456 units in April-December

Bajaj Auto, which is India’s No. 1 two-wheeler as well as three-wheeler exporter, has registered its best-ever exports of the Qute quadricycle of which is the sole manufacturer in the country. The Pune-based auto major has been witnessing strong traction in Qute exports, particularly in the current fiscal year.

As per the latest wholesales data from industry body SIAM, Bajaj Auto has shipped a total of 5,456 Qutes in April-December 2024, which is a doubling of year-ago dispatches and constitutes robust 101% year-on-year growth (April-December 2023: 2,708 units).

Nine months into the current fiscal, Bajaj Auto has exported 5,456 Qutes and looks well set to go past the 7,000-units mark in FY2025, if it maintains the growth trajectory of Q3 FY2025.

SIAM export sales data reveals that of the past nine months, December (858 units) has been the best month. April 2020, when 1,062 units were exported, remains the highest monthly export number for the Bajaj Qute. With Q4 FY2025 (January-March 2025) yet to be counted, total exports of the quadricycle could drive past the 7,000-units mark.

Compared to the rising export demand, sales of the Qute, which is India’s first-ever quadricycle (a sub-group of the LCV segment) and launched in FY2019, in the domestic market are low. Between April-December 2024, only 116 Qutes have been sold in the country, down 81% YoY (April-December 2023: 625 units). As per cumulative SIAM data, only 3,271 Qutes have been sold in India to date compared to 32,849 exported units.

The Qute has sold only 3,271 units in India since FY219, while its cumulative exports since FY2016 are now nearing the 33,000-unit mark.

Demand from Egypt helps accelerate Qute exports
What would have helped accelerate export demand for the Bajaj Qute is the recent move by Egypt to formally recognize quadricycles as vehicles for public transportation and also to replace the existing three-wheelers on its roads. Qute exports this fiscal commenced in Q1 with a first shipment of 500 units. The Qute is also exported to markets like Turkiye and Ghana, among others.

As is known, Bajaj Auto has a strong three-wheeler presence in Egypt, which was a major market for this product in the past. It is estimated that the country still has around 500,000 Bajaj RE three-wheelers plying on its roads. In end-2021, Egypt had banned import of three-wheelers (called tuk-tuks there) which had impacted Indian exports. In March 2024, the Egyptian parliament approved a draft law aimed at creating a new vehicle category for quadricycles to transport people. 

The government of Egypt plans to progressively replace all three-wheelers with quadricycles, and its recent move to recognise the quadricycle vehicle category is expected to give a major fillip to exports of the Bajaj Qute and could translate into a strong export business opportunity for Bajaj Auto.

Electric Qute in the pipeline
Given the government’s sharpened focus on the electric vehicle market, Bajaj Auto could be working on an electric avatar of the Qute, which is currently sold with CNG and petrol powertrains and is available for both personal and commercial usage.

Bajaj Auto’s diversification into EVs has proved hugely successful in both two-wheelers, where it was ranked No. 3 in CY2024 with over 193,000 Chetaks sold for a 17% market share, and also in zero-emission three-wheelers – nearly 42,000 units for a 6% market share. Now, the company is making moves to extend the electrification strategy to the Qute.

Speaking in a conference call last year, Rakesh Sharma, executive director, Bajaj Auto, had said: “We are investing behind the Qute platform. When the BS-IV, BS-VI transitions took place, there was such a lot of work which was there in our R&D that we deprioritize Qute only because of the volumes. But we are now looking at an upgrade, which will provide the customer with a tech condition in Qute. And we are already now got a CNG-based Qute, and we will be working on an electric Qute as well.”

ALSO READ: Electric 3W industry scales new high in CY2024: 691,000 units, Mahindra and Bajaj Auto shine