Bajaj to launch six motorcycles by March 2014

Rajiv Bajaj spoke with CNBC-TV18 to reveal an extremely aggressive plan to expand Bajaj's market presence in India and abroad.

Bajaj will launch two new Pulsars this year. One is "significantly larger than the 200NS" while the other is smaller. We expect Bajaj to set the Pulsar show rolling with the smaller one by replacing the ageing but still popular (and dominant in its segment) Pulsar 150. We believe a 180 would be uncomfortably close to the 200 in price and performance.

Also, Bajaj needs to update the 150, a segment that hasn't seen many new products but the rivals do tend to keep launching cosmetic updates and variants to keep sales buoyant. We expect the launch announcement in September, just before the festive season kicks off.

We further think the Pulsar 375 will come either in December or January giving Bajaj time to focus on the 390 Duke and the 150 without any crossed wires in the promotional messages. Bajaj also revealed that the 100T's sales have been extremely good and that they will capitalise on this shortly.

There are six Discovers ready to launch, and between four and six will be launched by March 2014. The final number is a strategic choice depending on how the competition reacts to the market situation and the new Discovers.