BAJAJ UNVEILS NEW PULSAR AT THE 2014 AUTO EXPO

From motorcycling enthusiasts to car lovers, Bajaj Auto has something for all at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. We take a closer look at what Bajaj has planned for the upcoming year

If there was one thing that enthusiasts and autojournos were looking forward to, it was without doubt visiting the Bajaj Auto Stall at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. And boy oh boy! It did it live up to expectations and in fact even more. The leading twowheeler manufacturer of India today took the wraps off the two models that will soon be added to its Pulsar lineup - the sports cruiser Pulsar CS 400 and the sportier Pulsar SS 400. Like the 200 Duke and the Pulsar 200NS, both these models will also share some engine parts with the KTM 390 Duke. Mated to a six-speed transmission, both these Pulsars will be powered by a 375cc liquid-cooled, 4-valve triple spark engine with Fuel injection. While the spy shots of the Pulsar SS 400 have already started making their rounds on the internet, it might just be a while before these models finally hit the production lines.

Aside from both these motorcycles, the U Car concept also managed to turn a lot of heads at the Bajaj Press conference today. The U Car is the passenger version of the RE 60 that Bajaj showcased at the 2012 Auto Expo. The company claims that this quadricycle will even be lighter than the 400kg RE60. U Car too will host a liquid-cooled, 4-valve, triple spark engine with fuel injection. This front-wheel drive car will be mated to an automatic transmission.

Last year's show stopper, the Bajaj RE 60 was also seen at the Pune-based manufacturer's stall aside from the Discover range of motorcycles.

Bajaj Akurdi plant staff get Rs 10,000 hike in wages

Workers of Bajaj Auto's Akurdi plant got a R10,000 hike in their wages after their union, the Vishwakalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKS), signed a wage agreement with the company on Monday. This has renewed hope for achieving a wage settlement at the Chakan plant soon, Dilip Pawar, president of the union said.
At present, there is no production on at the Akurdi plant and workers are used for non-production work at the Bajaj Auto R&D centre and the tool room located here.

The Akurdi plant has only 130 workers and the larger chunk of workers are at the Chakan plant. But after this agreement, the union is positive about the prospects of the Chakan unit to reach their wage agreement.
Negotiations are on at the Chakan plant after workers ended their 50-day strike and resumed work in August 2013.

The VKS has threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike from February 16 after suspension of the some of the workers. The Chakan plant has 1,000 permanent workers who are part of the VKS union.
The Chakan plant also has another 1,000 workers at Chakan who are either on contract or under training and apprentice schemes.

Meanwhile, the company on Tuesday reported that its sales declined by 14.36% to 1,67,869 units from 1,96,023 in the same month last year.

Bajaj Akurdi plant staff get Rs 10,000 hike in wages

Workers of Bajaj Auto's Akurdi plant got a R10,000 hike in their wages after their union, the Vishwakalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKS), signed a wage agreement with the company on Monday. This has renewed hope for achieving a wage settlement at the Chakan plant soon, Dilip Pawar, president of the union said.
At present, there is no production on at the Akurdi plant and workers are used for non-production work at the Bajaj Auto R&D centre and the tool room located here.

The Akurdi plant has only 130 workers and the larger chunk of workers are at the Chakan plant. But after this agreement, the union is positive about the prospects of the Chakan unit to reach their wage agreement.
Negotiations are on at the Chakan plant after workers ended their 50-day strike and resumed work in August 2013.

The VKS has threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike from February 16 after suspension of the some of the workers. The Chakan plant has 1,000 permanent workers who are part of the VKS union.
The Chakan plant also has another 1,000 workers at Chakan who are either on contract or under training and apprentice schemes.

Meanwhile, the company on Tuesday reported that its sales declined by 14.36% to 1,67,869 units from 1,96,023 in the same month last year.

2-wheeler makers shift focus towards scooters

AUTO Expo 2014 revealed increasing competitive intensity in scooters, premium bikes and entry level sedans. While executive segment motorcycles lacked the zing, premium bike riders would be spoilt for choices from not only Hero and Bajaj Auto but also Harley, Triumph and Aprilia. Hero showcased 3 new scooters; Honda, TVS, Suzuki, Yamaha are all launching a scooter each to enhance their portfolio. The entry and executive segment motorcycles lacked the zing this season with no notable launches/showcases. The limelight was taken by scooters where Hero Motocorp surprised us with 3 launches - while the 110cc Dash was expected to be showcased, we did not expect the showcasing of the the 125cc Dare (we feel this could be a volume garnering product) and the 150cc Zir, both of which look quite good. Honda, TVS, Suzuki, Yamaha are all launching a scooter each to enhance their portfolio – Honda’s 125cc Activa and TVS 110cc Scooty could definitely add further volumes for the respective OEMs. Bajaj Auto as expected gave the segment a miss. Premium bike riders too are likely to be spoilt for choices with both Hero and Bajaj Auto further adding to their portfolios with Hero adding 220cc/250cc products and Bajaj Auto going further premium with 400cc products.

Chakan staff reject Bajaj offer of rs 10000 raise

Bajaj Auto offered a Rs 10,000 wage hike to its workers at the Chakan plant on Saturday night, few hours before the workers' union president was to begin his indefinite hunger strike.

The management displayed the notice at night when the workers of the second shift were on duty. The wage hike was to come into immediate effect after a written acknowledgement from the workers.

A notice signed by Kailas Zanzari, vice-president, motorcycle (manufacturing), proposed wage hike in three slabs — a raise of Rs 10,000 for workers with five and above years of working experience, Rs 9,500 for workers with three to five years of experience and Rs 9,000 for workers with up to three years of experience.

On Sunday morning, the union held a meeting and decided to postpone the hunger strike call. But the recognised union, Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKS) and its president, Dilip Pawar, have rejected this new offer.

Pawar, who was to start his fast on Sunday, told workers that he has taken this decision to
postpone the fast to allow for one last chance to resolve the issue with the management.

Pawar said the union was not given a copy of the notice and no worker was going to sign such an agreement and this was not the legal way of doing it. “We will seek legal opinion on this matter and decide our next move,” Pawar said. The union also saw this as an attempt the disrupt the unity of the union. “We want a uniform wage hike,” Pawar said.

Zanzari stated that management’s offer on the wage package was final and there could be no further discussion on this beyond what was offered and displayed on the notice board. This was the final offer as far as CTC was concerned but if they had other issues the company would continue to meet and discuss, Zanzari said.

The company in a statement said the R10,000 hike was the best in the Chakan belt. But the workers said companies such as JCB had given a higher raise to its workmen and they wanted Bajaj

Egypt two-wheeler import ban likely to hit Bajaj Auto hard

Egypt's Cabinet has proposed to impose a 12-month ban on imports of two- and three-wheelers, a move that could spell a big setback for Bajaj Auto's exports.

The ban is not final yet, but if implemented could impact Bajaj the most, as its exports to the African nation formed about 6% of Ebitda in the third quarter of 2013-14, analysts said.

The Egypt Cabinet authorised its ministry of finance to go ahead with the ban on February 12, a move primarily designed to give a leg-up to its fledgling automobile industry. It's the export earnings that helped Bajaj Auto cushion the blow on earnings growth in 2013-14, when domestic volumes declined.

Analysts were quick to weigh in on the move. As the prospect of a probable export ban looms, Morgan Stanley moved its stock rating to "equal-weight" from "overweight" and revised the price target to 1,983 from 2,124 a share. Morgan Stanley's Binay Singh and Yashesh Mukhi, in a note to investors titled 'Export Visibility Decreasing; Move to EW', said: "Our Overweight rating on Bajaj rested on exports outgrowing domestic and weak currency benefit offsetting domestic inflationary pressure. The potential import ban in Egypt puts this at risk. Upside to our price target is just 4%, risk-reward at current level is not attractive".

Egypt constitutes a vital export market for Bajaj Auto, since it contributed 31% of the total three-wheeler exports and 3% of the two-wheeler exports in 2012-13. Analysts think it could lead to a downward revision of FY15 earnings per share (EPS) by as much as 7%. In an e-mail response to ET's queries, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, said: "Since we are given to believe that a final decision will be taken by the appropriate Egyptian authorities only next week, we cannot offer any comment on this matter today."

The shares of Bajaj Auto lost 3.23% to 1,839 on the BSE on Friday. According to Bloomberg, consensus EPS estimate for FY15 stands at 135.48, a share that implies growth of 14.82% year-on-year.

The earnings growth of 15% for FY15 now would be at risk, given that the Street was factoring in an export volume growth of 15%.

Eicher Motors to pump in Rs 600cr to ramp up bike production capacity

Eicher Motors plans to invest Rs 600 crore in two years to ramp up production capacity of its motorcycle division Royal Enfield and also to develop new global platforms as well launching new bikes starting 2016.

Royal Enfield is looking to complete work at its Oragadam facility in the next two years thereby taking the total capacity across the two plants to over 5 lakh units annually by 2016. It had produced a total of 1.78 lakh bikes in 2013.
"We will be making an investment of Rs 600 crore in Royal Enfield towards capacity expansion and development of new global product platforms over 2014 and 2015," Eicher Motors Ltd MD and CEO Siddhartha Lal told reporters here.

The investment will go into capacity expansion, improving research and development (R&D) infrastructure and adding new products, he added.

"Last year, we had set a production target of 2.5 lakh units for 2014, but now it has been revised to 2.8 lakh units considering the demand for our bikes in the market," Lal said.

By 2015-end the Oragadum plant would be completed fully thereby taking the total capacity to around 5 lakh units per annum, he added.

Lal said the additional capacity would help in reducing the waiting periods for various models.

When asked about the new product platforms, Lal said: "In the next 5-7 years horizon, we will be entirely focused on the mid sized motorcycle segment (250 cc-750 cc). We do not have any intention to enter below or above this segment."

He added that the new platforms are being developed keeping in mind global ambitions of the company.

"We are working on multiple platforms. What will be the final outcome can't be known now," Lal said.

The company, which sells Bullet, Classic, Thunderbird and Continental GT models, is also looking to enhance its dealer network in the next three years.

"We currently have around 300 dealerships across the country. In the next 2-3 years this number would grow to around 500," Lal said.

Commenting on the the recently introduced 'Pro Series' range of trucks in the 5-49 tonnes segment, Lal said the entire product range would be out in the next 18 months.

When asked about progress on the 50:50 joint venture with US-based Polaris Industries, he said:"It is well on track for a commercial launch in 2015."

"We are trying to create a new segment in personal four wheel space. It is an on road personal vehicle, a new segment, which we are trying to create," Lal said when asked about JV's product development plans.

TVS motor showcased Scooty Zest in Autoexpo 2014

TVS Motor Company showcased its iconic model, TVS Scooty, this time in an all new avatar. The new scooter, named TVS Scooty Zest, is an ideal mix of weight, dimension and handling and is propelled by a larger zippy 110cc engine which delivers best-in-class fuel economy while ensuring better pickup and ride comfort.The all new TVS Scooty Zest embodies elegance while flaunting a design language that invokes expressions of fun, freshness and freedom for young girls. Its soft form blends smoothly with crisp and fluid lines and tense highlights.

Commenting on the new model, Mr Aniruddha Haldar, Head of Scooters, TVS Motor Company, said, “With TVS Scooty Zest , we have taken the Scooty brand to the next level. TVS Scooty Zest now gets fresh and contemporary styling which is trendy and reflects the femininity of the brand. The enhanced engine capacity gives it a more peppy ride. We have also introduced several new features which will enhance the value of product. “

An array of new and exciting features along with perfect ergonomics and comfortable seating assures a peppy and stress free ride. Designed to partner the independent woman of today, TVS Scooty Zest will be available in vibrant colours and comes with the promise of being a stylish and agile commuter.

The company is scheduled to launch TVS Scooty Zest in the next few months.