Bajaj Auto to enter the electric vehicles segment in India by 2020: Rajiv Bajaj

Bajaj Auto is looking at entering the electric vehicle segment with new motorcycles and scooters in India. These EV offerings by Bajaj Auto are expected to launch in India in 2020. This was mentioned in an interview to CNBC-TV18 by Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto.Rajiv maintains that electric scooters or motorcycles would be an attractive space to be in. He further added that the company is targeting at 20-25 percent market share as it has moved on from the 15-20 percent share. The Pune based automobile manufacturer will aim at increasing its market share in the next 12 months. He believes, to gain 10 percent market share in two years would be remarkable for Bajaj Auto as 10 percent is three times the absolute market share of Yamaha after 35 years in India.[caption id="attachment_5803521" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Rajiv Bajaj MD Bajaj Auto Ltd along with Eric Vas President Motorcycle. Image: Overdrive[/caption]He further added, "Over this financial year the three-tier structure of the industry which was 20 percent for entry-level, 60 percent in value/mid-level and 20 percent at a premium level has moved to 30-50-20 percent and is on its way to move to 35-40-25 percent structure," he said. "This means the middle-level market is getting squeezed out, which in turn is very good for Bajaj because we compete at the bottom and at the top level."When asked about the company's plans on exports, Rajiv said the markets continue to be uncertain but the company by the year-end would have exceeded exporting over 2 million units across in a calendar year to 70 countries. The exports would represent 40 percent of the company's total sales. Bajaj added, For the fourth quarter, the growth would be muted for the industry in terms of primary sales from companies to dealership although for retail it would continue at 10 percent year-on-year growth. The biggest challenge for the industry would be to make the transition of the two norms related to safety and emission over the next 12 months.