Bajaj has been in the news but not for happy reasons. Sales went down; it lost market share in a big way and slipped to No.4. Just a few months back, Bajaj sounded so upbeat. So what has suddenly gone wrong?
- Environment and sentiment. People seem to have put big purchases on hold. Bike's definitely a big purchase.
-
Competition. Finally doing justice to its reputation and perception, Yamaha launched the sexiest and the best performing bikes in the category Bajaj dominated all this while.
-
Discontinuing what it started. Bajaj is adopting Hero Honda's way of doing things. Launch the same product over and over again with a few cosmetic changes. In that, it has failed to keep up with the demands.
100cc is economy. Higher above 100cc, it's about looks, performance, excitement, status, impression. Can you still flaunt a Pulsar now? Can you even flaunt a Pulsar220 now? Can you flaunt an R15? Oh, tell me about it.
The big tank did it for Bajaj some years back. It brought the zing to biking. Bajaj needs to do it again and regularly. It needs to get something else, something new, something refreshing to set the pulse racing again. Not the Discovers 110, 125, 135. Not the Pulsars 150, 180, 220. Not even the XCD's I would say. Hope the six launches in 2009 don't have to do with these. Otherwise, you know what's gonna happen.
Where's the Ninja 250? Why is Bajaj waiting? Why are we waiting?
Leave a Reply