“I would pin that in the first half (of fiscal 2025),” Dinesh Thapar, Bajaj Auto’s financial chief, said in a post-earnings call when asked about the goal’s trajectory.
“Consider between now and September,” he said.
Bajaj Auto ramped up its repertoire of premium brands, which includes KTM and Dominar, partnering with British bike-maker Triumph. It launched two locally made bikes under the partnership in July last year.
Thapar had earlier mentioned the company’s 10,000 units-a-month goal in January, without specifying a timeline. It currently makes about 6,500 units a month.
Since the launch, Bajaj has sold about 42,000 units to dealerships, the company said in a statement. Of those, 18,800 were sold in the March quarter. Triumph accounted for 2.1% of Bajaj Auto’s total two-wheeler sales in the fourth quarter. Its overall two-wheeler sales rose about 26% in the quarter year-on-year. Bajaj Auto’s Triumph is still overshadowed by market leader Royal Enfield, whose motorcycles are made by Eicher Motors in India. Both Bajaj’s alliance and Hero MotoCorp’s partnership with Harley Davidson are anticipated to pose a challenge to the Bullet bike-maker.
Bajaj Auto’s standalone net profit climbed 35.1%, to 19.36 billion rupees ($231.8 million) for the three months to March 31 from a year earlier, beating analysts’ average estimate of 18.26 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.
This was aided by strong, improved demand for entry-level models in rural India and steady sales of mid-level motorcycles in cities. A pick-up in exports to some overseas markets such as Latin America along with a low base also helped.
Bajaj Auto is the first among its Indian two-wheeler maker peers to report its March-quarter results.