Bajaj Discovers the ‘sporty commuter' segment

If Bajaj Auto is pleased with the good showing of the Discover, it goes beyond numbers alone.

From Mr Rajiv Bajaj's point of view, the Discover 150 has the potential to grow a relatively dormant product segment wedged between the more buoyant commuter and the sporty categories.

“My personal belief is that 20 per cent of the commuter category will quickly step up to the Discover 150, which could see it post numbers of 80,000 units a month by January next year,” the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto told Business Line.

Growth Drivers

To put this in perspective, the three big growth drivers of the commuter segment are Hero Honda's Splendor and Passion, and Bajaj Auto's Discover 100 with monthly sales of 400,000 motorcycles. All three have price tags in the Rs 40,000 (and slightly upwards) range.

The sporty segment, which is the 150cc-plus category and priced around Rs 60,000, does over 120,000 units a month. The Pulsar accounts for a lion's share of sales here.

It is the “in between” category of 125cc-150cc bikes, which just has not taken off over the years with average monthly numbers at just over 50,000 bikes with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India's Shine being the segment mover.

Leader

Bajaj Auto is now confident that the Discover 150 will not only emerge the leader of this category but, in the process, will even change the dynamics of the commuter segment. The company believes that a 150cc bike at Rs 46,000, which offers over 60 km to a litre, has all the ingredients to appeal to the commuter category.

The Discover 150 was launched in May and monthly sales have touched 30,000 units. Its launch was initially confined to Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi. Dealers in these four regions have been gung-ho on customer response and cited cases in some cities where the bike's sales have even overtaken that of its 100cc sibling's.

It is in this context that Bajaj Auto estimates sales of the Discover 100 and 150 to be evenly poised at 80,000 units each in the coming months. Some of these numbers are expected to be drawn from competitive models in the commuter segment.

The company refers to the Discover 150 as the sporty commuter bike that offers the best of both segments to the buyer.

Pulsar Platform

Interestingly, the objective was similar when the Discover 125 was first launched in 2004 from the viewpoint of offering customers a better alternative to the basic commuter bike. Sales were encouraging but there was no escaping the fact that it was more expensive and gave lower mileage than the average 100cc bike.

The Discover was born out of the Pulsar platform, which gave it a great front-end in terms of the brand, though there were issues at its back-end relating to costing and mileage. On the other hand, the Discover 150 emerged from the Discover 100 platform where these niggles were sorted out.

“We learnt that the brand had everything going for it but what needed to be set right was the costing and mileage. The Discover has shown that it is a strong, attractive proposition in the market,” Mr Bajaj said.

The physics of brands Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world.” So said the Greek mathematician, Archimedes, centuries ago — words, which Mr Rajiv Bajaj reiterates, are relevant even today.

As he explains, the lever here refers to a strong brand while the fulcrum is the platform.

The world Archimedes referred to is today's modern market. “Alignment of the brand at the front-end with the platform at the back-end is termed strategy,” Mr Bajaj said.

The principle has been put to good use with the Discover and the market response has convinced the company that it is spot-on with its brand strategy, which has seen its market share double within a year.