Sharma acknowledged that one of the key focus areas for the company is market share in the 125cc-plus segment, which remains Bajaj Auto’s core category.
Bajaj Auto currently holds a strong second position—about 50% ahead of the third and fourth players—and trails the market leader by five to six percentage points. The company plans to sustain its momentum through a robust pipeline of new product launches across both the 125cc and the sportier 150cc–160cc-plus segments.
In the January–March quarter of 2025 (Q4FY25), Bajaj Auto reported revenue of ₹12,148 crore, a profit of ₹2,049 crore, and a margin of 20.2%.
This is the edited excerpt of the interview.
Q: My first question is going to be on the challenge everyone’s talking about in the market—volume growth and market share. The market’s very happy with your margins. No problems there. But everyone’s asking: What about more volume growth and more market share? Because in your bread-and-butter segment, the 125cc plus category, there has been a dip of a couple of basis points in market share in 2024-25 (FY25). What are you doing about it now, and what’s your expectation on both volumes and market share in 2025-26 (FY26)?
A: Keeping the margins steady while the electric business is growing from 10% to 20% of our domestic revenues also required some management. You have rightly highlighted one of the important areas the management is focusing on—market share in our core area, the 125cc-plus segment. We are hungry for more, there is no doubt about that.
But let me put it in perspective. This segment started to really grow post-COVID and post the regulatory changes. At that time, about three years back in FY21, our market share stood at around 20%, based on estimates from registrations. By 2023-24 (FY24) end, it went up to 25.5%. We feel that in FY25, particularly in the second half or middle of the year, we lost about 1.5%points. So that’s the perspective—from 22% to now about 24%.
We look squarely in the mirror and are concerned about even a decimal loss, because our intention is to strive for leadership in this segment. We are a steady number two—at least 50% ahead of numbers three and four—and slightly behind the number one by about five to six percentage points. So we are striving. We will continue our thrust with a good pipeline of new products, both in the 125cc and the sporty 150cc–160cc-plus segments.
Q: I don’t hear any price action coming from you in that reply to bump up volumes. Also, just tie in the volume picture. The overall industry is saying growth at 5%–6% in two-wheeler volumes this year. How much better can Bajaj Auto do above that? I am talking about the domestic business—exports are already firing up and have turned around well for you. But let’s talk domestic two-wheeler volumes.
A: We don’t think that pricing is a sustainable strategy, because competition can always drop their own prices. We will use pricing only to calibrate with competition. If a competitor move makes their pricing go beyond any premium or discount we can justify in our portfolio, then we will adjust. But we do not subscribe to using pure pricing to acquire market share—it’s not sustainable. We are always balancing between growth, market share, and profitability.
From an industry outlook, it looks similar to FY25—around 6%. Last year, Q1 saw 11% growth, which dropped to 2%, followed by a very strong festive season, especially in October. Q4 was mildly negative at around minus 2% in registrations. But overall, the year saw about 6% growth. I think that pattern will continue. This growth might come in very different shapes and regions.
Q: But how much above the industry will Bajaj Auto grow in terms of two-wheeler volumes this year?
A: One steady trend is that the 125cc-plus segment has outperformed the 6% growth rate. It will probably be between 8% and 12%, and we are looking to grow faster than that.
Q: Just quickly on KTM, since we are discussing motorcycles. It seems like Bajaj Auto now wants to take ownership. You have made several moves in that direction. What should we expect in the turnaround from KTM? In this particular quarter, you stopped exports as far as this JV is concerned. What’s the expectation from KTM in FY26, and what happens in terms of taking control?
A: There are two sets of actions. One is to solve the liquidity issue and pay off the pare down debt. Creditors took a 70% haircut, and there was a court-supervised process requiring a commitment by May 23, which has been made. The second aspect is Bajaj Auto’s intention to take majority control. This is subject to regulatory clearances, both in India and overseas. We have made our intention clear and are in the middle of the process.
Until these clearances are secured, everything remains at a standstill—management structures and operations continue as before. Once the clearances are gained, we will truly start putting our shoulder to the wheel with KTM to drive the turnaround.
You are right about exports—they were curtailed last quarter due to liquidity issues, even though demand was healthy. With liquidity improving, exports have resumed from April onwards. So April, May, and June will see exports. In normal times, our exports to KTM would be about 6%, but they had dropped to nil. You will see positive support to our export growth from KTM this quarter onwards.
Q: Just a 20-second answer—we have other managements waiting. As the electric vehicles (EV) portfolio ramps up, will you manage to retain margins at 20%? And what’s the ramp-up in EV volumes?
A: EV volumes should ramp up. Margins are a consequence of many factors. Our intent is to manage dynamically. The rupee has appreciated against the dollar, and there are some marginal headwinds from commodity and material cost inflation. We also have to watch the competition. Our intent is to keep margins steady, but we are mindful of some headwinds, especially from currency fluctuations going into the quarter.
Bajaj Auto’s current market capitalisation is ₹2,42,060 crore. The stock is currently trading at ₹8,673.50 as of 9:56 am on the NSE and has declined 3% over the last year.
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