Bajaj Auto's decision to stay out of the scooter market has cost the company in terms of market share, both in the overall two-wheeler market and in the motorcycle segment. SIAM numbers reveal Bajaj Auto's motorcycle market share declined from 24.3 per cent in FY10 when scooters were discontinued, to 18.3 per cent in FY17. This, despite the fact that the 'zero' margin product CT100 has helped add nearly 4 per cent market share since its launch a year and a half ago.
Bajaj Auto's market share has come down 27 per cent 10 years ago to less than half at around 12 per cent in FY17, in overall two-wheelers. The company, however, maintains that it is more focused on margins than market share. Bajaj Auto president S Ravikumar said, “The low-margin Indian scooter industry is not attractive to us. We make far more money exporting 1.5 million bikes and 3-wheelers across the world than anyone could ever hope to selling scooters in India. Our focus will always be high-margin segments. This is why Bajaj Auto is the world's most profitable auto company with the highest market cap in its industry in India.”
However, analysts state that despite its margins focus, Bajaj Auto is losing out in the domestic numbers game. Despite its premium focus, Bajaj has actually lost market share in the premium motorcycle segment as well from 46 per cent in 2010 to 33 per cent in 2017.
