Bajaj plans new Discover model

“A new Discover will join the Discover 100 and Discover 150 next month to further the growth of the Discover brand in the domestic and export markets this financial year,” Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, said in a statement.

“The two popular Discover brands with price tags of Rs 43,000 and Rs 48,000 have become a runaway success in the country,” S Sridhar, CEO, two-wheelers, Bajaj Auto, told Financial Chronicle. “It is a great sign that at present there is no stock left of Discover motorcycles in both our Waluj plant in Aurangabad in Maharashtra, and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.”

“To cash in on the popularity of the Discover brand, we will launch a new model positioned between the 100 cc and 150 cc Discover bikes available at present,” Sridhar said. He claimed that the new model would be a hit with motorcycle enthusiasts in the country and also in overseas markets.

On an average, Discover 100 cc clocks over 75,000 units a month and both models put together do over 1,10,000 units per month in the domestic market, Sridhar said.

The other brand from the Bajaj Auto stable, the Pulsar range comprising the 135 cc, 150 cc, 180 cc and 220 cc models with a price tag ranging from Rs 54,000 to Rs 74,000, sold an average of 65,000 units a month in the domestic market, he said.

The Pune-based company on Wednesday said it had achieved 22.18 per cent jump in sales in February 2011 at 2,86,657 units over the 2,34,623 units sold in February last year, Bajaj Auto said in a statement.

The company’s exports surged to 31.93 per cent at 1,02,433 units in February 2011, up from 77,642 units in February 2010.

Bajaj Auto posted a rise of 18.4 per cent in three-wheeler sales in February this year at 40,217 units against 33,968 units in the same month last year.

The company said total vehicle sales last month were the best for February and stood at 3,26,874 units compared with 2,68,678 units in the same period a year ago, a growth of 21.66 per cent. “For the first time our total sales exceeded 3.5 million vehicles in a given financial year and we achieved this in the period April 2010 to February 2011,” Sridhar said.

The company also exceeded its export target of one million units by selling 11,33,834 units in these 11 months, he added.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz India touched its highest ever monthly sales in February 2011 touching 662 units, a growth of 51 per cent over February last year at 439 units.

Skoda Auto India, a subsidiary of ŠkodaAuto a.s. of the Czech Republic (Volkswagen Group), sold 2,512 units against 1,805 units in February 2010, a growth of 39.17 per cent.