Bajaj Auto was down in the dumps for over a year. But after much soul-searching, Rajiv Bajaj tried a whole new strategy to take on Hero Honda. And that’s now beginning to pay off
Rajiv Bajaj’s swagger is unmistakable. Dressed in track pants and a white T-shirt, the tall, broad-shouldered Bajaj leads us into his bedroom for the photo shoot. At first glance, it could pass off as any spartan middle class home in India. He lays open a yoga mat, begins his warm-up in practiced rhythm, and easily slips into one pose after other — standing, sitting, bending forward and backward. Mid-way through his routine, we tell him that his adhomukhaswanasana or the dog-like pose is almost perfect. Bajaj doesn’t lose a moment to retort even as he is stretches his limbs to the maximum: “That’s because you work like a dog at Bajaj Auto.”
After trying hard for four years, Bajaj decided to change his strategy. He upped the ante, knowing full well that Honda wasn’t about to easily share new technology with its Indian partner. He decided to create a niche segment of sporty bikes. These bikes would have an engine capacity that was 50-80 percent more than Hero Honda and naturally, far less fuel efficient. His research team, headed by Abraham Joseph, put out the first Pulsar 150cc and 180cc models. Bajaj calls it their worst product launch ever. Unusually for a company that once ruled the two wheeler market, Bajaj had to extend the service warranty to keep sales going.
Rajiv Bajaj was chairing a session at the annual conference of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in the capital, in August this year. The discussion was about the entry of Harley Davidson and the need to raise the technological capabilities of the Indian two wheeler industry. A slightly emotional Bajaj admitted that Hero Honda had become so big that a small frog like Bajaj would have to jump out of the well. A few minutes later, when his chance came to speak, Pawan Munjal immediately picked up the gauntlet: “Why jump out of the well, when there is enough for everybody,” he teased.
(This story appears in the 18 December, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)