Bajaj Auto becomes the leader in the Sports bike segment beating other manufacturers by a good margin and registering great growth numbers.
Ask anyone who’s looking out to buy a bike in the 150cc-250cc segment and the Bajaj Pulsar(s) would most probably be at the top of his list. Such is the dominance that the bike has commanded over the past decade. Ever since its launch, the bike has been way ahead of the competition and Bajaj has constantly updated the bike. With new variants added to the Pulsar lineup, it remains fresh till date. One segment where the Indian bike maker was lagging was the Sports bike segment (the company calls is Super Sports) which was dominated by the Yamaha R15 and the others until a few years ago.
But things have changed greatly in the past two years. With the launch of KTM brand in India, Bajaj has gained substantial numbers in the segment. Riding on the same success, it launched the Pulsar RS 200 in March 2015 and the bike has been a runaway hit for the brand. With bookings touching 7000 units in just three months, the full-faired bike now commands a waiting period of around two months. Lower sticker price, catchy looks and decent equipment levels can be attributed as the reasons for the same. This combined with the sales numbers of the KTM RC twins has made Bajaj the undisputed leader in the segment.
From a segment share of just 10% in 2013, Bajaj now controls 59% of the segment. Not only this, the brand has also helped grow the segment overall by 50%. Achieving these figures is no small task and needs a lot of coordination along with a lineup of great products. Another reason for the increasing sales of such bikes is the craze amongst customers of owning performance bikes at not-so-high prices. Most of the bikes in this segment get more show than go but then that’s what the customers prefer and hence brands offer it. Once the Pulsar RS 400 is launched, Bajaj will gain more numbers and the competition will have to come up with something to combat this.
