Bajaj shocked the auto industry when it announced of exiting the scooter segment. The company which made the scooters a household name in the past stopped the production of the Chetak in 2009.
The company moved its focus to motorcycles and have built some solid products like the Discover and the Pulsar brands. Bajaj Auto, which dominated the scooter market with brands like Chetak and Super, saw volumes drop to barely a couple of hundreds a month in the 1990s with the advent of motorcycles that were not only more stylish and appealing, but even offered better mileage. The company stopped producing the Chetak in 2008 and the last ungeared scooter Crystal rolled out in 2009.
At the time of exit, Bajaj Auto had never ruled out getting into scooters. The company will be a specialized motorcycle maker and any other launches (such as scooters or three wheelers) will be extensions of the motorcycle business.
In 2011, the chairman Mr. Rahul Bajaj hinted about re-entering the scooter market. With the solid growth in scooter segment and more and more players mulling entry, seems like the Indian auto maker have re-visited its exit decision.
Bajaj will launch stylish and performance scooters in the range of 125-150cc to woo back the lost customers. We could expect some retro styled, yet modern scooters with the latest DTS-i technology, digital odometers and big list of features.
