Pulsar at 25: Bajaj Rebuilds 125, 150 as Competition Intensifies

Twenty-five years after the Pulsar first changed Bajaj Auto's position in India's motorcycle market, the company is rebuilding two of the brand's oldest nameplates as competition intensifies in the segments that sit at the heart of its domestic motorcycle strategy. Bajaj in August unveiled ground-up updates to the Pulsar 125 and Pulsar 150, retaining their familiar "classic" identity while changing much of the engineering underneath. The move comes as both motorcycles face pressure at home, even as the Pulsar franchise continues to grow internationally.

The stakes extend beyond the two models. Bajaj's domestic motorcycle sales grew just 0.6% to 20.43 lakh units in FY2026, compared with 6.6% growth for the overall motorcycle market. Its share consequently fell to 15.6% from 16.6% a year earlier. At the same time, larger motorcycles have become increasingly important to Bajaj. The company says motorcycles of 125cc and above accounted for 77.5% of its domestic motorcycle sales in FY2026. 

Pulsar itself remains a much stronger franchise than Bajaj's overall domestic market-share performance suggests. The brand crossed ₹11,000 crore in domestic revenue and ₹16,500 crore overseas in FY2026, while recording its highest-ever global volumes, according to Bajaj's annual report. 

125cc Battle Gets Tougher

The Pulsar 125 competes in one of India's largest motorcycle categories, but Bajaj has lost ground in it.

Domestic sales in the >110cc-125cc category were broadly flat at 36.16 lakh units in FY2026, compared with 36 lakh in FY2025, according to SIAM. Honda dominated the category with 17.79 lakh units, or about 49% of the market. Bajaj was second with 7.93 lakh units, followed by Hero MotoCorp at 6.17 lakh and TVS Motor at 4.27 lakh. Model-level data showed Honda Shine leading the category in FY2026, while Bajaj Pulsar volumes fell 3% to 774,995 units. TVS Raider, meanwhile, grew 7% to 426,877 units.

This year, growth has returned. SIAM data for April-August shows the >110cc-125cc category growing 6.4% to 14,88,614 units from 13,98,466 units a year earlier. Bajaj, however, moved in the opposite direction: its domestic sales in the category fell 19.8% to 253,209 units from 315,574 units. That reduced Bajaj's share of the category to about 17% from 22.6% in the year-ago period. In contrast, Honda grew by 14%, Hero by 21% and TVS by 5%.

The numbers underline how the 125cc market has changed. Honda continues to dominate through its commuter franchise, while products such as the TVS Raider and Hero Xtreme 125R have brought sportier styling and performance into a displacement category where Pulsar once had a clearer positioning advantage.   

Pulsar 150

The Pulsar 150 sits in a much smaller and more volatile category. Domestic sales in the >125cc-150cc segment surged 35% to 722,261 units in FY2025 before dropping 27% to 525,123 units in FY2026, according to SIAM. The market has rebounded sharply this year. Sales rose 49.5% to 302,147 units in April-August FY2027, from 202,071 units a year earlier.

However, Bajaj has again moved against the market. Its domestic volumes in the category fell 34% to 55,352 units from 84,119 units this year, reducing its share to about 18% from nearly 42%. Honda has been the biggest beneficiary, with volumes more than tripling to 182,253 units from 55,291. Yamaha sales edged up to 64,541 units from 62,661. The divergence is significant: a market that expanded by almost half saw Bajaj's volumes contract by a third. 

Squeezed From Both Ends

The Pulsar 150 also faces a structural challenge that was far less pronounced when the motorcycle established itself two decades ago. Sporty 125cc motorcycles increasingly offer the styling and equipment that once encouraged buyers to move up to a 150cc machine. At the other end, 160cc motorcycles offer substantially more performance without requiring a large jump in price.

Bajaj itself is strengthening that end of the Pulsar portfolio. The company recently introduced the Pulsar N160 S and N160 SS with a new 165cc engine producing 18.5PS, compared with 14PS for the new Pulsar 150. Bajaj said the N160 range grew 60% in the first six months of 2026, three times the growth of the segment, according to the company. That leaves the classic 150 defending an increasingly narrow space between more sophisticated 125s and more powerful 160s. 

Bajaj has tried to modernise the 150 formula before. The P150 arrived in 2022 on a newer platform and was followed by the N150 in 2023. The N150 was subsequently withdrawn in 2025. The latest strategy is different. Instead of replacing the familiar Pulsar 150 identity, Bajaj has retained it while substantially rebuilding the motorcycle underneath.

Both the new Pulsar 125 and 150 move to a diamond frame with the engine as a stressed member and gain monoshock rear suspension. The 125 produces 12PS while the 150 makes 14PS. Higher variants add a five-inch touchscreen with Google Maps, three riding modes, and an idle stop-start system, while both get Bajaj's Crawl Tech for low-speed traffic. Prices start at ₹92,990 for the Pulsar 125 and ₹1,15,233 for the Pulsar 150. Sumeet Narang, Bajaj Auto's president of marketing, described the 150 as the "OG thrill with the presence that people love it for", reflecting the company's decision to retain the model's familiar identity.

Exports Provide a Counterweight

The domestic weakness does not tell the full Pulsar story. Exports have become an increasingly important counterweight for Bajaj. The company exported 22.50 lakh vehicles in FY2026, up 20.8%, while export revenue rose 25.6% to ₹20,416 crore. Two-wheelers accounted for 19.67 lakh units, up 17.5%. Bajaj says its motorcycle exports grew about 17% in FY2026, compared with 10% growth for the industry. East Africa and South Asia were the biggest growth drivers, rising 54% and 36%, respectively. Pulsar exports increased 18% to their highest-ever level.

The recovery was broad-based. Latin America recorded its best-ever year, while overseas monthly volumes crossed two lakh units in October 2025 for the first time in 39 months. The SIAM displacement data suggests that export demand is also helping offset weakness in the categories occupied by the two classic Pulsars. 

In the >110cc-125cc category, Bajaj's exports jumped 42% to 304,191 units in April-August. Total exports from India in the segment rose 36% to 800,354 units. The >125cc-150cc category shows a similar divergence. Bajaj's exports increased 10.6% to 102,266 units from 92,434 units, even as its domestic sales in the same displacement band fell 34%. Overall exports from the category rose 6.6% to 205,342 units.

The contrast is important. Bajaj is losing domestic ground in both displacement categories this year, but export volumes in both are growing. That helps explain why Pulsar can simultaneously be posting record global volumes while some of its core domestic categories remain under pressure.

A Wider Pulsar Reset

The new 125 and 150 are part of a broader portfolio intervention. Following Bajaj's first-quarter results in July, Joint Managing Director Rakesh Sharma said the company planned 10 model interventions before the festive season, including new motorcycles in the 125cc and 150cc segments under the Pulsar brand. He described the wider portfolio as showing signs of "end-of-cycle fatigue", rather than singling out the two classic Pulsars. The intervention had already started earlier. Bajaj undertook a series of pricing and product actions during FY26 to improve competitiveness in 125cc-plus motorcycles. 

For the Pulsar 125, the task now is to regain share in a large market where Honda remains dominant, and Hero and TVS have strengthened their offerings. For the 150, the challenge is more unusual: recover volumes in a market that is expanding rapidly even as buyers gain more alternatives immediately above and below it.