Austrian sports bike maker KTM on Wednesday said it will launch its first motorcycle, jointly developed with Bajaj Auto Ltd, in India at the Auto Expo to be held in the capital early next year.
After ruling the entry level segment with its 100cc motorcycles, the country's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto Ltd has decided to exit the segment owing to relatively lower margins.
Bajaj Auto on Monday unleashed a price war in the 150cc motorcycles segment with the launch of its new Discover priced at Rs 46,000 ex-showroom, Delhi), which will be cheaper by at least Rs 6,000 from competitors.
From the Sensex firms, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, HCL Tech, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Infosys were among the major winners. However, Hindustan Unilever, Eternal, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.
Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd's impressive stock market debut has brought cheer to the 100-year-old Bajaj Group, but the conglomerate faces the prospect of Bajaj Finserv being removed from the benchmark Sensex index. According to market expectations, Trent, a Tata group-owned fashion retailer, is likely to replace Bajaj Finserv during the upcoming index rebalancing in December.
Bajaj Auto expects to clock an over 50 per cent growth in exports to about 160,000 units during 2003-04, the company said on Thursday.
Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto Ltd, has been conferred with the Alumni Achievement Award by the Harvard Business School from where he obtained his MBA degree in 1964.
Among the Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, HCL Technologies, Eternal, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever and UltraTech Cement were the gainers. Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Kotak Mahindra Bank, PowerGrid and Tata Steel were among the laggards.
Stock markets snapped the four-day falling streak on Tuesday with the benchmark Sensex rebounding by 317 points on buying in auto and pharma shares amid a decline in retail inflation to a more than six-year low, nearing the RBI's comfort zone. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 317.45 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 82,570.91. During the day, it jumped 490.16 points or 0.59 per cent to 82,743.62. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 113.50 points or 0.45 per cent to 25,195.80.
The country's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) on Monday joined hands with Renault-Nissan to launch a small car in India by 2011 that will compete with Tata Motors' Nano on price point - Rs 1 lakh.
The Chinese company, Taian Chiran Machinery Company Ltd, had been reportedly marketing a copy of top selling Pulsar in different Latin American markets under Gulsar brand.
Bajaj Auto Ltd is foraying into commercial four-wheelers segment by launching small trucks in the next three-year period. The company is also planning to set up an assembly line for two-wheelers in Indonesia in a joint venture with a local company.
Bajaj Auto Ltd is close to introducing two-wheelers that will use green fuels such as compressed natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.
Eminent industrialist and chairman and managing director of Bajaj Auto Ltd, Rahul Bajaj has been appointed as chairman of the board of directors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finserv, Adani Ports, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Trent, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Eternal, Titan and Bajaj Finance were the gainers. On the other hand, Tata Steel, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles, Bharat Electronics, Kotak Mahindra Bank and PowerGrid were the laggards.
The Chakan plant, which produces the KTM and Bajaj brands, is at present operating with manpower little more than half its total strength.
Buoyed by staggering sales of Tata's Ace, the one-tonne mini-truck launched mid-2005, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Piaggio and Hyundai
Key benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for the third session in a row on Friday, dropping nearly 1 per cent, dragged by heavy selling in IT, auto and energy stocks. Tariff-related uncertainties amid mixed global market trends also added to the pressure, analysts said. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 689.81 points or 0.83 per cent to settle at 82,500.47.
Bajaj Auto Ltd would spend Rs 150 crore for new products and capacity expansion, enabling it to surpass the 10-12% two-wheeler industry sales growth expected this year and set up an assembly plant in Indonesia, a top company official said.
Among Sensex firms, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Eternal and ITC were the major laggards. Selling in HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also dragged the key indices. However, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and State Bank of India were among the gainers.
Bangalore-based TVS Motor Co has filed a Rs 250-crore (Rs 2.5-billion) defamation suit against Bajaj Auto Ltd in the Bombay high court, against the latter's allegation of patent infringement. Earlier, BAL alleged that TVS had copied its patented DTS-i (Digital Twin Spark plug ignition) technology in the 125 cc TVS Flame, slated to be launched in December this year.
Auto majors Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra reported robust sales in September as reduced price tags owing to GST rationalisation led to record demand in the Navaratri period. The month also saw Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra settling at number two and three positions, respectively in vehicle wholesales ahead of Hyundai Motor India.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd has become the country's fifth most valuable auto firm by market valuation in its debut trade on Tuesday. Shares of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the Indian arm of South Korean automaker Hyundai, listed at Rs 1,931, reflecting a decline of 1.47 per cent against the issue price of Rs 1,960 on the BSE earlier in the day. The stock slumped 7.80 per cent to Rs 1,807.05 during the day and finally ended at Rs 1,820.40 apiece, down 7.12 per cent.
Bajaj Auto Ltd has reported a 9.3 per cent growth in its two-wheeler sales in June 2004 at 112,647 units as compared to 103,105 units in June 2003.
From the 30 Sensex companies, Zomato, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki India, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Infosys were among the laggards. In contrast, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sun Pharmaceuticals were the gainers.
Bajaj Auto said it was "concerned" that the Japanese auto giant Honda may have an "aggressive pricing strategy" with its planned entry into the country's motorcycle market in October. Bajaj also launched the CT 400 bike.
Bajaj Auto, the king of the market for CNG-powered passenger three-wheelers, now wants to replicate this dominance in two-wheelers. The difference is that while the former is zooming - registrations for CNG-powered passenger three-wheelers nearly doubled during January-December 2023 - the latter, meaning a market for CNG-powered two-wheelers, does not exist.
From the 30 blue-chip pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers. State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Zomato, UltraTech Cement and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
Ola Electric's latest MoveOS 5 upgrade delivers sharper performance on its Gen 3 platform due to an optimised in-house Motor Control Unit that enhances range and responsiveness.
The company has already shifted production to Aurangabad.
Movement in the equity market this week will be guided by a host of macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors, analysts said. Stocks markets concluded the last week on a subdued note, as investors grappled with global uncertainties.
Among Sensex firms, Maruti zoomed the most by 8.94 per cent. Bajaj Finance rallied over 5 per cent, UltraTech Cement by 3.71 per cent, and Bajaj Finserv by 3.7 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and Trent were also among the gainers. However, ITC was the biggest loser, dropping by 1.26 per cent. Eternal, Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro also declined.
In an eventful week ahead, stock market investors will take cues from major events like the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, the upcoming Union Budget and Q3 earnings, analysts said.
The company, which saw a sharp dip in sales last financial year, seems to be coming out of the slump. It is selling more than 250,000 motorcycles a month (including exports). This is a huge jump from the 110,000-unit figure almost a year ago. The jump in sales has resulted in the two-wheeler manufacturer facing a capacity shortage.
These are the top buyers of the scrapped electoral bonds, the data for which was released by the Election Commission on Thursday.
Among the Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, Trent, State Bank of India, Titan and Tata Consultancy Services were the laggards. However, Maruti, Infosys, NTPC, Asian Paints, Eternal and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest gainers.
These automotive companies were afraid of competition and made wrong accusations on grounds of safety.