Bajaj Plans Capacity Expansion as Pulsar Demand Regains Strength
Siddharth Vinayak Patankar
1 min read
Jun 11, 2015, 07:17 PM
India's biggest sport biker maker Bajaj Auto has lost marketshare over the past 15 months. In fact from being the strong number two to Hero's number one position, Bajaj has since been overtaken by both Honda and TVS too in monthly sales. Now as it fights to regain marketshare, it is seeing traction for its products, and will therefore have to expand capacity at its Chakan plant. Bajaj currently makes motorcycles at three locations. The plant in Waluj makes the Platina, CT100 and Discover as well as the Boxer for exports. Pantnagar is the location for the Platina and Discover family too. And it is at Chakan that its high displacement and also high-margin products are made, namely the Pulsar range, Avenger, Kawasaki Ninja and KTM brand bikes. Again the production focus here too is a mix of export and domestic sales.
The reason Bajaj is considering the move to a higher production output, despite seeing a decline in demand last year, is because it is now armed with a new range of products. The Pulsar family has now got the NS, AS and RS series - besides the existing 135, 150, 180, and 220 cc Pulsars. The AS and RS have now begun to add to the demand that Bajaj is once again seeing, and so there has been an 8% rise in month-on-month sales since January this year. In the last quarter of this fiscal Bajaj will also launch the CS 400 - where too it sees a stronger demand than many believe. The newly launched RS 200 has in fact seen a very strong market demand, resting in a supply crunch. When I met Eric Vas, President of Bajaj Auto's Motorcycle division, he told me the company is well aware of the waiting periods building up on the RS 200. He said, "Certainly we do have a slight capacity constraint on the race sport currently, we have customers who have been waiting for 45 days for that product and fortunately it is not something unmanageable, we are fairly competent at expanding capacity so we will hike capacity as the market goes along. Maybe it will take us a month, a month and a half to ramp up capacities a little bit, more because constraints at vendors rather than our end."
So in the short-term Bajaj will realign its production by tweaking the number of shifts and daily output from Chakan. But that will certainly not tide it over as demand continues to increase, and the new bikes - AS in particular gain traction in the domestic and export markets for Bajaj. Add to that the upcoming CS series and future products, and Bajaj know it needs to increase production output - and more so at Chakan which makes the more sophisticated products. "That is the part of the game. (At) the Chakan plant there is some discussion about capacity expansion", says Vas and expect a formal announcement on this from Bajaj by the second quarter of the current fiscal. At present Bajaj has the installed capacity to make close to 51 lakh motorcycles a year (Chakan plant capacity accounts for approx 12 lakh units), as compared to Hero MotoCorp's 70 lakh and HMSI's 48 lakh unit annual capacity.
The reason Bajaj is considering the move to a higher production output, despite seeing a decline in demand last year, is because it is now armed with a new range of products. The Pulsar family has now got the NS, AS and RS series - besides the existing 135, 150, 180, and 220 cc Pulsars. The AS and RS have now begun to add to the demand that Bajaj is once again seeing, and so there has been an 8% rise in month-on-month sales since January this year. In the last quarter of this fiscal Bajaj will also launch the CS 400 - where too it sees a stronger demand than many believe. The newly launched RS 200 has in fact seen a very strong market demand, resting in a supply crunch. When I met Eric Vas, President of Bajaj Auto's Motorcycle division, he told me the company is well aware of the waiting periods building up on the RS 200. He said, "Certainly we do have a slight capacity constraint on the race sport currently, we have customers who have been waiting for 45 days for that product and fortunately it is not something unmanageable, we are fairly competent at expanding capacity so we will hike capacity as the market goes along. Maybe it will take us a month, a month and a half to ramp up capacities a little bit, more because constraints at vendors rather than our end."
So in the short-term Bajaj will realign its production by tweaking the number of shifts and daily output from Chakan. But that will certainly not tide it over as demand continues to increase, and the new bikes - AS in particular gain traction in the domestic and export markets for Bajaj. Add to that the upcoming CS series and future products, and Bajaj know it needs to increase production output - and more so at Chakan which makes the more sophisticated products. "That is the part of the game. (At) the Chakan plant there is some discussion about capacity expansion", says Vas and expect a formal announcement on this from Bajaj by the second quarter of the current fiscal. At present Bajaj has the installed capacity to make close to 51 lakh motorcycles a year (Chakan plant capacity accounts for approx 12 lakh units), as compared to Hero MotoCorp's 70 lakh and HMSI's 48 lakh unit annual capacity.
Related News
2 mins read
New Bajaj Chetak Spotted Ahead Of Launch 
Popular Bajaj Models
Latest Cars
Upcoming Cars
Latest News
car&bike Team | Jan 19, 2026Skoda Kushaq Facelift Debut Tomorrow: What To ExpectFacelifted Kushaq to get updated looks and new tech inside the cabin.1 min read
Jaiveer Mehra | Jan 17, 20262026 Tata Punch Facelift Price, Variants ExplainedUpdated Punch is available in 8 trim levels with naturally aspirated petrol, CNG and turbo-petrol engine options.3 mins read
car&bike Team | Jan 17, 2026Skoda Kushaq Facelift Teased Ahead of Launch In Coming WeeksMid-lifecycle update to bring with it styling updates as well as new features inside the cabin.1 min read
car&bike Team | Jan 16, 2026Pierer Mobility AG Rebranded as Bajaj Mobility AG Following KTM TakeoverThis marks a major shift in ownership and strategic direction in the global motorcycle industry.1 min read
Seshan Vijayraghvan | Jan 16, 2026Kia Syros Variant Line-Up Expanded With HTK (EX) Trim; Prices Start At Rs. 9.89 LakhPositioned between the HTK (O) and HTK+ trims, the new variant will be offered in both petrol and diesel options.2 mins read
car&bike Team | Jan 16, 2026MG Majestor India Launch On February 12Unveiled in India at the 2025 Bharat Mobility Expo, the Majestor is expected to be positioned as a more premium alternative to the Gloster.1 min read
Amaan Ahmed | Jan 17, 2026Bajaj Chetak C25 First Ride Review: Basic, Likeable E-Scooter For First-Time RidersThe Chetak C25, in quite a few ways, is poles apart from the larger and more powerful 30 and 35 Series models, but in its mannerisms, it is very much a Chetak.8 mins read
Bilal Firfiray | Jan 9, 2026Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder: 10,000 km Long-Term ReviewAfter spending over three months and 10,000 km with the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder Hybrid, we were impressed by its real-world mileage, seamless hybrid, practical comfort, and Toyota reliability. Is it the best C-SUV then?5 mins read
Seshan Vijayraghvan | Jan 8, 20262026 Mahindra XUV 7XO Review: Big On Tech, Bigger On ComfortThe new Mahindra XUV 7XO is flashier, feature packed, and comes with more advanced tech. But are the changes just incremental or actually substantial?1 min read
Preetam Bora | Jan 10, 2026Simple One Gen 2 First Ride Review: 265 km Claimed Range!The Gen 2 model of Simple Energy’s first electric scooter gets a fair few updates, including new features, tech, more range and lighter weight. We spent a couple of hours with the Simple One Gen 2 to find out if it manages to impress.6 mins read
Amaan Ahmed | Jan 3, 2026VLF Mobster 135 300 KM Review: Fun But FlawedA 125 cc scooter with Italian design and Chinese genes is a rare combination, and while some may be tempted to dismiss it because of its origins, the VLF Mobster shows 125s can also be exciting – but not without compromises.11 mins read