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Bajaj Launches the all-new Pulsar 200NS.
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"He has to sell his car... so he has to speak like that," Bajaj shot back when reporters asked him about Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata's remark that one of the major reasons for him to decide on the 'people's car' was the concern for safety of those travelling by two-wheelers.
Two-wheelers are sold all over the world, it has been proven that they are safe, he said, adding his company's products were safe.
Bajaj also denied that the advent of Rs one lakh car would affect the two-wheeler manufacturers.
"Ultimately it is the customers who will decide what they want," he said.
Tata had said that the Rs one lakh car would mark a paradigm shift in the way India travels and will draw customers from the two-wheeler segment as well as from the lower end of the four wheeler segment.
The small car to be powered by a 600 cc engine, which could have air conditioning option and seat four to five people, is widely considered to be a threat to the two-wheeler segment.
Tata Motors is in the process of building a plant in Singur in West Bengal for the people's car, which it hopes to roll out by next year.
The price differentials between the small car and the high end motorcycles likes of Bajaj Pulsar 200 cc, the to-be-launched Pulsar 220 cc and Hero Honda Karizma are expected to be minimal.
No division of Bajaj Auto : Rahul Bajaj
Ruling out a complete division of the Bajaj Auto empire between his two sons, Rajiv and Sanjiv, Chairman Rahul Bajaj Friday said they would continue to be part of the company even after the proposed demerger takes place.
"Both the boys will clearly continue to be in Bajaj Auto, no doubt about it," Bajaj told reporters here.
He, however, added that his younger son Sanjiv "may probably spend more time on the new demerged company or companies".
Bajaj reiterated that plan to demerge the company's financial and investments business into a separate entity was based on the intention of unlocking shareholder value by utilising surplus cash and not because of the reported "rift between the brothers".
"You cannot simply divide a company between individuals when you have so many shareholders interest to be taken into consideration," he said.
The board of Bajaj Auto is likely to take up the issue of demerger in its meeting in May or July, he added.
Sanjiv, Executive Director of BAL, however, said the demerger process was being evaluated at the moment and it would depend on what kind of impact it would have on bal.
"If the cash flows of BAL continue to be positive after the demerger, probably the board will give a go ahead. But if it is going to be negative, I don't think the board will approve of it," he said.
Sanjiv, however, added that in the past few years the company's cash flows have been positive and is likely to continue so.
Asked if the proposed demerger of Bajaj Auto would have any bearing on the company's joint-ventures with German financial firm Allianz, Rahul Bajaj replied in the negative.
"It will have no effect whatsoever on the shareholding of the joint ventures with Allianz," he said.
Bajaj Auto has joint ventures with Allianz -- Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance -- in which it is the majority partner.
On the issue of BAL's 41.5 per cent holding in Bajaj Auto Finance post demerger, he said the board would decide on how and where it would be transferred.
Bajaj also said even if the board gives its nod for the demerger, the whole process was likely to take time as it would have to get regulatory and high court approvals.
BAL has about Rs 8,000 crore cash surplus and its foreign institutional investment partners have been pressing it to utilise it by hiving off the financial and investments business into separate entity.
Source:- CentralChronicle
Casey Stoner held off 22 laps of intense pressure from Valentino Rossi to take his first Moto GP win at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old Australian made the most of his Ducati's superior straightline speed to hold off the Italian on what was his first race for the Italian squad, triumphing by 2.838 seconds and taking a five-point lead in the championship.
Pole-man Rossi held the lead at the start, followed by Stoner and Toni Elias, but Stoner blasted by the five-time world champion as they crossed the line for the first time, giving notice of his intent to fight for victory.
Rossi's Yamaha was equal to Stoner's Ducati through the twisty section of the track, and it was there where he passed the Australian three times during the race, but was each time undone by his bike's lack of straightline speed, which was 20kph slower than his rival's.
In the end, Stoner made the decisive move on lap 19 when he powered into the lead on the approach to the first corner and then set the fastest lap of the race on the final tour to take victory.
Third was the Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa, who made the best of an ill-handling bike to hold off the Suzuki of John Hopkins – who was riding with his hand in bandages following a testing crash.
The pair spent the first half of the race right on the tail of Stoner and Rossi, in what was a six-bike fight for the lead with Loris Capirossi's Ducati and Marco Melandri's Gresini Honda. That battle became five-way when Capirossi binned it on lap seven.
Melandri went backwards through the first half of the race after a bright start, but recovered as his fuel load lessened to pass the Yamaha of the disappointing Colin Edwards for fifth with three laps to go.
Seventh was Chris Vermeulen on the second Suzuki, while world champion Nicky Hayden took a battling eighth on his Repsol Honda – passing Alex Barros' d'Antin Ducati with two laps to go. Shinya Nakano completed the top ten on his Konica Minolta Honda.
It was a disastrous race for Elias though, who was lay third at the first corner. After falling back through the field all afternoon, he took a trip through the gravel after being passed for ninth by Hayden and eventually finished 14th.
At least he finished though, which was more than could be said for Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet, who high-sided out on lap eight and Carlos Checa who slid off his LCR Honda next time round.
Industry watchers see this as Bajaj’s attempt to hurt the margins of Hero Honda Motors, the market leader and the largest player in the 100cc segment, just before Bajaj exits the 100cc market as scheduled in mid-2007. Hero Honda is already under pressure with analysts expecting single digit net margins for the first time in history in the Jan-March quarter. If it responds to the Platina price cut, margins could get even thinner.
In an e-mail to its dealers, Bajaj Auto’s vice president, marketing and sales (two-wheeler), S Sridhar, wrote, “Platina would drive huge growth for us and this would be experienced in March, April and May '07. We are fully prepared for the post-Holi marriage season gameplan.”
The move comes at a time when Bajaj Auto’s sales showed negative growth. In February, Bajaj Auto sold 1,74,220 units, down 3% as against 1,79,880 units in the same month last year.
Platina’s new price, Rs 31,714 (ex-showroom in Uttar Pradesh), would break the 100cc segment's price barrier set by Hero Honda's cheapest model CD Dawn (Rs 31,900). Of late, the sales of the newly-refurbished CD Dawn have taken off, spurring Hero Honda's overall sales and helping it widen the lead over Bajaj Auto. During February, the gap between Hero Honda and Bajaj once again widened to 1.06 lakh units, up from 37,883 units in September last year.
According to auto analysts, Hero Honda's current product mix, including the renewed CD Deluxe, CBZ X-treme, Passion Plus (limited edition) among four others has helped the company thwart Bajaj's gameplan to overtake the number one bike manufacturer so far. Bajaj also intends to price its 125cc-plus bikes in the same range as that of the 100cc bikes in the market.
“Our move to exit 100cc segment and making new bikes with high value proposition for customers are bound to move not only Bajaj customers but the whole of 100cc customers in favour of the new bikes. Platina, which sells around 60,000 units a month, accounts for nearly 10% of the 7 million units domestic bike market,” Sridhar said in his mail, adding that the launch of new bikes will take four to five months from now.
Source:- FinancialExpress
