Bajaj Auto will look to expand its Chetak portfolio this year

Bajaj Auto is confident in Bajaj Auto's Chetak as a product and has shared that the company took a calibrated approach to building the required market. Even with high pricing, Chetak has seen healthy demand, and the company will look to expand its Chetak portfolio this year.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Rakesh Sharma, the Executive Director of Bajaj Auto, said, “Later in the year we will expand the portfolio, at this point of time how exactly we will expand and what numbers we are going to gain from that we will sort of talk about that later. But yes, scale up phase of Chetak is now truly on,” Sharma added.

Sharma also acknowledged that the high pricing was a challenge.

"We got handsome bookings which acknowledges the fact that basically, Chetak was a very highly preferred product, only its price was very high, and the supply chain side, the manufacturing side is resolving itself to start supplying about 10,000 units from June. Hopefully, that is the time when demand and supply will finally meet,” he explained.

Bajaj Auto is also expanding its Chetak portfolio, with plans to launch new variants in the coming year. Sharma shared that the company aims to increase its footprint from 88 cities to about 120 cities by the end of H1, with almost 140 exclusive stores for Chetak. These stores will have exclusive service centers, which will contribute significantly to brand building.

Sharma emphasized that these initiatives will drive the Chetak beyond the 10,000 units mark and continue to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles in India. He said, "We are also expanding the footprint, which is currently at 88th cities. By the end of H1, we should be in about 120 cities with 140 almost exclusive stores for Chetak, which are very nice stores with exclusive service centers, which contribute a lot to the brand building. So all these things will drive the Chetak beyond the 10,000 units."

Speaking about the reported quarter, Sharma said the improvement in Bajaj Auto's margins can be attributed to the devaluation of the rupee, which has made exports more profitable. Despite a difficult year, Sharma is confident that the company can continue to maintain its margins.

“As you can see, even in a very, very difficult year, the margins have improved so that is a result of the fundamental approach of the company towards a better profitability.”

Additionally, the company has passed on cost increases to consumers, which has helped to maintain margins.