Bajaj Auto eyes the scooter market

The one-time scooter giant Bajaj Auto, which exited scooter manufacturing to concentrate on making motorcycles, is believed to be re-looking at India's booming scooter market with interest.

It is reliably learnt that the company is working on developing an all-new, automatic scooter for India. Expect contemporary, modern styling with universal appeal on the new Bajaj scooter along with healthy specifications including a telescopic fork front suspension and an ample features list. Bajaj’s upcoming scooter will be powered by a four-stroke, single-cylinder engine displacing around 125-150cc. It will offer electric start and automatic transmission.

While the specific launch date for the new scooter is not known, it is likely to roll out in a few months.

Bajaj Auto’s interest in the scooter market is not without reason. In SIAM’s just-released April-December 2012 sales figures, the scooter/scooterette segment has posted 18.44 percent growth, selling 2,178,209 units compared to 1,839,100 units in the year-ago period (see table above).

Of the seven players in the segment, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has the giant’s share of 48.79 percent, followed by Hero MotoCorp with 18.04 percent. Even the recently launched Yamaha Ray scooter has notched sales of over 34,000 units within four months of its launch.

RISHAD COOPER