Bajaj Auto, once knows as the market leader in geared scooters, will exit the segment by the end of this fiscal. The firm’s sole scooter – Kristal has not been doing well and Bajaj will concentrate all its resources on bikes. The trademark ‘Hamara Bajaj’ advertising campaigns that were a hit in the 1980s and 1990s, propelling its brand of scooters to the numero-uno position has come to an end.

Poor sales of Kristal have added to Bajaj's woes

When quizzed about this news, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj told this to the reporters at the launch of its 135-cc Pulsar: “We will exit the scooter market because we don’t see much sense in it…If we are to be a motorcycle specialist, we cannot make scooters,”. “The scooters did not sell according to our expectations. We are making hardly 1,000 scooters a month now and mostly for exports. Now our focus is on motorcycles,”. You heard his words – Bajaj will now fight for the number 1 spot with Hero Honda and eventually beat it. “One day, God willing, we will be the largest motorcycle company in the world. If we have to be a motorcycle specialist, we have to make sacrifice (in scooter segment),” he added.

Blade has been scrapped

Bajaj was also unhappy with the market’s response to the Kristal which to be really honest is a great product. It was the first vehicle in India to come with single key operation, neck mounted fuel filler, auto-headlamps, DTS-i tech, ride-control, Spring in Spring among many more. Bajaj sold just 154 units of its Kristal in November and exported 104. Cumulative domestic scooter sales during the April-November period was 3,356 units and 728 units overseas. That explains the reason why Bajaj have scrapped the launch of its Blade sports scooter and a successor to the ultra-light Sunny.

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