Bajaj Auto has fired a new salvo into Hero Honda’s territory of commuter bikes with the Discover 150. Priced at Rs 46,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), the Discover 150 is pitted against Hero Honda’s Passion Pro, which retails at Rs 44,800 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Speaking to Autocar Professional, S Sridhar, CEO – 2 Wheelers, Bajaj Auto, explained that his company’s strategy with its latest launch is to give the customer of commuter bikes an option to upgrade to a bike with features normally seen in higher segment bikes, at a ‘marginal’ cost.

The Discover 150cc offers features like 5-speed gearbox, disc brake and wider tyres. At present, Bajaj sells around 90,000 Discovers (80,000 units of Discover 100 + 10,000 units of Discover 135) a month.

The Discover 135 has been discontinued in favour of its 150cc variant. Sridhar says the latest addition could lead to some cannibalisation within the Discover family but expects additional sales of 30,000-35,000 units. That would take Discover series’ monthly sales to up to 1.15 lakh units.