Two-wheeler demand struggling to match last year levels: Bajaj Auto

Rakesh Sharma, executive director (ED) of Bajaj Auto, on Monday said that the two-wheeler demand is struggling to match last year levels.

Bajaj Auto's total sales were down 14 percent year-on-year at 4.39 lakh as against 5.12 lakh units in the same month last year. Total domestic sales were down 22 percent at 218,565 units last month as against 281,160 units in October 2020.

According to the auto sales data released on Monday, November 1, sales were marginally higher in October than estimated. The month of October also reported the highest sales this year.

“As and when the economy rebounds and there is a trickle-down effect into those segments where two-wheeler demand resides. This will lead to better purchasing power and it will manifest itself in better two-wheeler demand. However, at this point of time, certainly two-wheeler demand is struggling to even match last year,” Sharma said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

On exports, he said, “Africa, Latin America, Middle East, even parts of South Asia, like Bangladesh have done extremely well.”

“The only blemish is that we are almost stocked out going into a very important season period in the sports segment. We are concerned that we will miss out on some retails because of that,” said Sharma.