With the launch of the Pulsar NS400Z, Bajaj Auto Ltd. has carved out its own space in the motorcycles segment, offering power to the masses at the cheapest price in the segment market.
Launched on May 4, the Pulsar NS400Z will join the Dominar 400, KTM 390 Duke and the Triumph Speed 400—all middleweight offerings by the bikemaker—to compete with the incumbents.
Here is a look at how the new offering looks to challenge other players in the segment.
Attractive Price Point
The 373cc-engine bike is priced at Rs 1,85,000. To put this in perspective, the company's 250cc engine bike goes for Rs 1,50,000.
Other players operating in the segment, such as Hero Motocorp Ltd.'s Harley Davidson X440 S start at Rs 2,79,500.
The price of Bajaj's own Triumph Speed 400 and Scrambler 400X—launched last year in collaboration with UK's Triumph Motorcycles— range between Rs 2.3 lakh and Rs 2.6 lakh.
The Pulsar NS400Z is 20% cheaper than the base variant of Bajaj Dominar 400, and roughly 21%/24%/ 7% cheaper than Triumph 400 (sold by Bajaj)/Apache RTR 310 (sold by TVS)/Hero Mavrick 440 (sold by Hero Motocorp). Also, its price is only Rs 35,000 more than Pulsar N250.
Apart from pricing, the company stands tall among these peers on other counters as well.
Geared Up
The company is the only sub-Rs 2 lakh brand to offer six-speed manual gears in the Pulsar NS400Z. Royal Enfield's Scram 411 is the only offering in the price segment which offers a 400cc engine, but even that has a five-speed manual gear.
Apart from the Scram 411, Royal Enfield's Himalayan is another offering in the 400cc space at a price of Rs 2.85 lakh. Launched in November 2023, the Himalayan has gotten positive response and could be a key monitorable.
Royal Enfield is also the only bikemaker with a 650cc engine offering in the market.
Sales Of Peers
Combined sales of the Triumph brand stood at 8,184 units in the December-March period. While those of Harley Davidson's Harley 440X stood at 9,596 units, according to Autopunditz.
With its large Pulsar manufacturing capacity and distribution network, Bajaj is expected to see good sales. The bikemaker's sales increased 17% in April, with its exports also seeing growth. According to Nomura, the Pulsar NS400Z appears to offer good value in the 40hp power category, and could drive incremental buyers.
Going Forward
New launches such as the Pulsar 400, among others, could help two-wheeler volume grow at 9.8% CAGR over FY24-FY26E, according to Prabhudas Lilladhar.
The Pulsar NS400Z is the second product in the 400cc space under Bajaj's own brand after the Dominar. This beats legacy players like TVS Motor Co. and Hero MotoCorp Ltd in the 400cc and above segment. Do note that TVS offers the Apache in 310cc segment.
TVS's Apache, in the 160-310cc space, has been one of the higher end offerings in the market until now. It has also announced the launch of a premium electric scooter, with new launches also planned in the next two quarters.
However, Bajaj has its own launches planned with the new Chetak set to come out during the year.
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