Bajaj to ride on Pulsar, Discover brand identities

Bajaj to ride on Pulsar, Discover brand identities
Bajaj Auto will incorporate its twin brand strategy of the Pulsar and Discover across all its dealerships with the help of a UK-based design house.

“Within the company, we have aligned ourselves to this brand statement and the next step is to take it to all our dealerships so that customers will have a clear understanding of what we stand for. The brand identity will be the main focus while the Bajaj corporate identity, in contrast, will be understated,” Mr S. Sridhar, President, Motorcycle Business, told Business Line.

This is keeping in line with the company's priority to focus on brands, and not just products, which it believes will hold the key to growth in the future. The Discover and Pulsar have played a big role in doubling its market share in bikes to nearly 35 per cent in the last 12-15 months and combined volumes of the two brands are nearly 2.5 lakh units each month.

The transition to these newly designed showrooms will happen in phases and the exercise will be completed for the entire network by the end of next fiscal. Bajaj is also increasing the number of its dealerships by 130 to over 600 with the focus being on Tier 2 and 3 centres. In addition, nearly 1,100 service centres are also being upgraded at an investment of nearly Rs 20 crore to meet the needs of the Pulsar and Discover.

From the company's point of view, this initiative is particularly important to get the bigger numbers from small town India where the Discover will play the catalyst as a mass commuter motorcycle. The flagship, Pulsar is more of the urban bike where growth will largely come from cities.

“We were waiting for the Discover to reach the right volumes before embarking on this network expansion drive. The timing is perfect now since the brand is doing 1.2 lakh units a month in the domestic market alone,” Mr Sridhar said.

This translates into a market share of 23 per cent in the commuter segment and Bajaj has targeted increasing this to 30 per cent by the start of the festive season in 2011. Growth in the Tier 2 and 3 centres is critical to this goal since this is where Hero Honda reigns supreme with its Splendor and Passion brands which clock over 2.7 lakh units each month.

The Discover 100 and 150 have been the best piece of news to Bajaj Auto in the volumes-driven commuter segment. It remains to be seen if another bike under this brand umbrella will debut next fiscal to keep the momentum going. If everything goes according to plan, monthly numbers of the Discover could average 200,000 units by the end of next fiscal, sources said.