Bajaj Auto to make 125 cc bikes for Kawasaki

For years now, Bajaj Auto has gained from the auto expertise of Kawasaki for their Indian operations. Now, the company has plans to give their partners something back. Bajaj Auto would now become the Kawasaki’s single source of motorcycles up to 125-cc capacity. This news was revealed on the sidelines of a curtain-raiser press conference for the eighth Auto Expo.

Bajaj Auto Vice-Chairman Madhur Bajaj said in a statement: “Kawasaki, with its inherent strength in making bigger bikes, has decided to source its small motorcycles from Bajaj Auto.” The company plans to meet this increasing demand from their partners by using the excessive capacities at their Aurangabad plant.

Bajaj Auto would also be aiming to use this partnership to close in the gap to their bigger rivals in this segment, Hero Honda. They also have unveiled their plans to setup manufacturing units in Nigeria and Brazil in addition to Indonesia. They are doing well in the Indian market with support from their Pulsar and Discover range of models are they gained a market share of 5.42 per cent in motorcycle segment largely at Hero Honda’s expense.

At the end of last year, Hero Honda’s market share in this segment was 44.5 per cent while Bajaj closed the year with a share of 36 per cent.