The company is setting up a new plant for high-end motorcycles by investing 650 million; Two and a half thousand people will get employment

Bajaj Auto expects sales of high-end motorcycles to grow faster than other motorcycles. An official of the company said that Bajaj has set an investment of Rs 650 crore in a new plant near its existing manufacturing plant in Chakan to build capacity to take advantage of this potential growth.

The Pune-based two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturer signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government earlier this week to set up a new production plant for electric vehicles (EVs) with super premium-end motorcycles such as KTM, Husqvarna and Triumph, in which an investment of 650 crores is proposed.

Executive Director of Bajaj Auto Limited Rakesh Sharma said, “We believe that the premium segment of the motorcycle will grow faster than others and Bajaj will be in a very good position to pick up this trend and it will be in the domestic and our overseas markets.”

He further added that – for Bajaj, the super premium-end motorcycle includes Dominar, KTM and bike models, which will come from the company’s alliance with Triumph. Sharma said that – of course, with the expansion of the EV portfolio, all of these together, we think the sales of these should grow fast..So we are building that capacity and preparing ourselves to take advantage of that opportunity.

Bajaj Auto’s 48 percent stake in KTM

Bajaj Auto holds a 48 percent stake in Austrian premium sports motorcycle brand KTM. It introduced the Husqvarna brand which was part of the KTM group in the country in February this year.

In January, the Pune-based automaker announced the formal launch of its non-equity global partnership with British iconic motorcycle manufacturer Triumph to produce medium-capacity bikes in the country.

According to Sharma, while Bajaj Auto’s overall motorcycle sales fell 21 percent in the April-November period of this fiscal year, premium-end motorcycle sales including KTM and Dominar sales were up 24 percent during the same period.

Sharma said, “We can expect this double-digit growth to continue and that is why we feel we need to invest in this new plant.”

The new plant will be located just four kilometers from its existing manufacturing plant in Chakan. It will be spread over 190 acres of land and an investment of Rs 650 crore will go mainly to buildings, plants and machinery among other works.

The capacity of the new plant will be 10 lakh units per year

The new plant, when fully operational, will have a total capacity of 1 million units per year. The existing Chakan plant has a capacity of 1.20 million motorcycles per year. He said the new plant would create around 2,500 jobs directly and indirectly, with 50 dedicated vendors.

Sharma said that the overall motorcycle market in India is currently not in a prolific position, and sales could end in FY 2020-21 by reaching FY 2013-14 levels.

Regarding Bajaj’s alliance with Triumph, he said that the two partners are waiting for the right time, as research and development work for the project was affected due to the epidemic. He said, “We can see that there has been some delay, but we will see how much we can reduce it.”

First Bajaj-Triumph bike to be available in 2022

Announcing the collaboration in January this year, Paul Stroud, Chief Commercial Officer of Triumph Motorcycle, said that – the first Bajaj-Triumph bike will be available from 2022, the starting price for the 200cc motorcycle will be less than Rs 2 lakh.