In what can be a tipping point in the Indian motorcycle industry, the news that the Bajaj Discover brand is the world's largest selling motorcycle means that the reign of the Hero Splendor has just showed a dramatic blip on what was for so long a runaway record!
Not many would have seen this coming but the fact that it was sentiment coupled to a honest to goodness package that had delivered meaningfully to the aam janta for over two decades was however getting a bit long in the tooth. Propped up by millions of satisfied customers as its best brand ambassadors, this ongoing legacy helped keep the Splendor volumes high aided no doubt by Hero MotoCorp's fine promotions and advertising strategy.
On the other side though was the fact that arch rival Bajaj Auto, for long known to play the volume game in the Rahul Bajaj scootering days had changed tack almost completely to a profit-oriented game. There's a thin line some said to this aspect but given that Bajaj Auto's profitability is probably the best among any in the global automotive sphere, it was only a matter of time before the strong back-end of the Akurdi, Pune-based firm would also get its products in the high volume commuter class to shine bright on the front end.
For quite a long time Bajaj Auto's motorcycling ambitions to confront Hero have been strong but unsustainable but ever since the advent of the Discover platform came into being, this has been the spearhead of the firm's commuter segment offering. Borrowing the same cues as the sporty Pulsar range but delivering top essence to everyday two-wheeled commuting, the path adopted by the firm's Stars Ahead R & D now encompasses a rich product portfolio where performance delivery, style and stance, top notch engineering and build are all leagues above other products on the market. If that is not all, the Discover is now acknowledged as the most fuel efficient motorcycle on the Indian market but this gets even more credence because the efficiency doesn't come at the expense of a pleasurefilled ride or one which lacks on the performance front.
The other aspect to Bajaj Auto's Discover as also of course its entire product portfolio was and remains to keep each unit profitable and the Discover returns mightily for both consumer and manufacturer to profit from the experience.
So when the sales figures for September 2012 came into the public domain, it was a huge fall for the Hero Splendor, so much so that the consistent sales performance of the Bajaj Discover suddenly saw it propelled to the best selling motorcycle in the world for the month at 122,968 units. Of course, a single swallow doesn't a summer make so while the first dent in the Splendor's hitherto impregnable reputation is fact, it will be up to the Discover to keep the ante high so that it develops a taste for leadership. Also to be truthful, the Splendor had been steadily losing traction for the better part of the last six months and where it was earlier all about the pull from the market garnering sales, in these last few months it was all about Hero MotoCorp pushing the brand to sustain it in the market.
I have always maintained that the first cracks in the Splendor's record were surely going to appear around 2014-15 but for it to have come so soon are surprising. What is even more of concern is the fact that its erstwhile former partner Honda is gunning for the same glorious patch that the Splendor played and thrived on. Honda's Dream Yuga commuter is again simplistically made but beautifully engineered and the fight will now be, in my opinion, between this bike and the Discover unless Hero MotoCorp can pull something out of its barren magician's hat.
Further on, the Bajaj Discover, in its latest 125 ST avatar is an all-new platform from which many new spin-offs have already been pencilled in for production. A 100-110cc version is almost production ready and this should again hit the high spots on the fuel efficiency front as well as be in the value priced segment of the market. What has been a fight between lipstick and makeup jobs on a model getting on in age against a young punchy new model is now where the market is veering to. Just like one fine day in the 1990s, the bottom fell off the Chetak and Super, I can see the same for the Splendor but can't foretell the exact timeline for the same. The market as they say will speak and tell!
