Bajaj Auto thrives on exports, India sales flat in FY2018

Pune-based Bajaj Auto’s aggressive thrust on exports is paying it rich dividends albeit its sales performance in the Indian market remains flat.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, Bajaj Auto has reported total sales of 1,974,577 units in the domestic market, down by 1 percent (FY2017: 2,001,391). Exports though grew substantially by 14 percent to1,394,757 units in FY2018 (FY2017: 1,218,541). As a result, the gap between domestic sales and exports has reduced substantially from 782,850 units in FY2017 to 579,820 units in FY2018.

During March 2018, domestic sales comprised 158,987 units (+5%), while exports were 110,952 units (+11%).

The company has been witnessing a slowdown in its domestic motorcycle sales, which can be attributed to various factors including the underperformance of the Dominar brand, no clarity on the future line-up of its best-selling Pulsar model, slowing sales of the entry-level CT100 commuter motorcycle, and almost-flat sales of the Avenger cruiser and V12 and V15 brand.

Bajaj Auto remains oblivious to the surging consumer demand for scooters and will continue to focus on the motorcycle segment. In the final cumulative analysis, exports once again have saved the blushes for the domestic major. The company has reported a cumulative growth of 5 percent (domestic + export) comprising 3,369,334 units for FY2018 as compared to 3,219,932 units in FY2017.