Bajaj Auto plans 2 new brands, 3 products in FY27 portfolio reset

Bajaj Auto will introduce two new brands and three more products during FY27 after completing 12 launches so far, widening a portfolio overhaul aimed at recovering domestic market share while navigating a sharp increase in input costs.

“We have done 12 launches so far. Three more will follow, and there will be two new brands,” joint managing director Rakesh Sharma told businessline on the sidelines of the company’s latest product launch.

Sharma did not disclose the names, categories or launch schedules of the brands.

The latest piece of the reset is a ground-up overhaul of the Pulsar 125 and 150, two ageing volume motorcycles within a Pulsar franchise that generated more than ₹11,000 crore in domestic revenue in FY26—nearly 19% of Bajaj Auto’s ₹58,732-crore standalone revenue.

“The products had been there for a long time without any change. This was dragging us down,” Sharma said.

Registration data underline the challenge. Bajaj’s two-wheeler registrations increased about 13% to 11.8 lakh in H1 CY26, but the market expanded nearly 19% to about 1.11 crore, calculations based on FADA’s VAHAN-derived data show. Its retail share slipped to about 10.6% from 11.2%.

The pressure persisted in Q1 FY27, trimming its retail share to about 10.4% from 10.9%. These figures include Chetak electric scooters; Bajaj’s motorcycle-only share separately fell to 15.6% in FY26 from 18.2% two years earlier.

The weakness is not uniform. Sharma said the higher-performance NS motorcycles were growing at about 1.5 times the market rate and the newer N-series at roughly twice the market rate. The older Classic range remained the missing piece.

TVS Motor’s Raider 125 and Hero MotoCorp’s Xtreme 125R have brought sporty styling and digital equipment deeper into the commuter market, while Honda’s Shine remains a heavyweight in the broader 125cc category.

Bajaj’s response goes beyond styling. Both motorcycles move from twin rear shock absorbers to monoshocks and receive new frames, engines and gearboxes. Depending on the variant, they also get Road, Rain and Sport riding modes, Crawl Tech for easier low-speed traffic and five-inch TFT displays with Google Maps navigation.

Power gains are modest: the Pulsar 125 rises to 12.1 PS from 11.8 PS, while the 150 retains its 14 PS output. The proposition is therefore less about horsepower than newer chassis technology, low-speed usability and connected electronics.

“We have retained everything that makes Pulsar iconic while reimagining what lies beneath it,” said Sarang Kanade, chief business officer of Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler business.