For the eight months from April to November, while the motorcycle segment grew 14% y-o-y at 97,48,936 units, Bajaj Auto grew at 30%, mostly in the entry-level bike segment. Bajaj Auto’s growth can be attributed to the aggressive pricing strategy that it adopted for its entry-level bikes post April 2018. As Bajaj Auto reduced prices of CT and Platina by Rs 3,000-3,500 in order to gain market share, the strategy helped the company ramp up its volumes, albeit at the cost of its Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin.

Regarding FY19 outlook, Bajaj said that Q4 will be muted for the industry in terms of primary sales from companies to dealerships since the inventory level is 6-8 weeks while it is 4-6 weeks generally.

Bajaj said that while the typical industry structure comprises 20% in the entry segment, 60% in the mid-segment and the remaining 20% in premium segment, the industry is moving towards 35% in entry/commuter segment, 40% midsegment and 25% in premium segment. This implies that the value/mid-segment is getting squeezed out.

He further added that the company intends to foray into the electric vehicle segment by 2020 both in personal segment – motorcycles or scooters – and three-wheelers (quadricycle).