COMPANY PROFILE

 The Bajaj group was founded in 1926 by Jamnalal Bajaj.

 In the mid-1940s, Bajaj Auto Limited(BAL) started as an importer of two- and

three-wheelers.

 In 1959, the company secured a license from the Government of India (GoI) to
manufacture two- and three-wheelers.

 In 1960, BTCL was renamed Bajaj Auto Ltd and in the same year it entered into
a technical collaboration with Piaggio for the manufacture of scooters.

 With its collaboration with Piaggio coming to an end in the early 1970s, BAL
started manufacturing scooters under the Bajaj brand.
 BAJAJ CHETAK: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
BAJAJ CHETAK was a popular
Indian made motor scooter produced
by the Bajaj auto company.

Chetak was the only choice for millions

of Indian families as an affordable way
of transport for decades.

The Chetak, BAL's first scooter model under the Bajaj brand, was
introduced in 1972. The Chetak, a geared scooter, had reigned over the
Indian two-wheeler market in the late 1970s to early 1990s

In the 1970s and 1980s, scooters dominated the Indian two-wheeler market.

Most middle-class Indians preferred scooters because of their durability,

low maintenance costs, and versatility and compared to the motorcycles
available in India were heavier and not as fuel efficient as scooters. and
were even costlier.
 WHAT IS PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE?
Product life cycle (PLC) has to do with the life of a product in the
market with respect to business/commercial costs and sales measures.

It is based on the 4 pivotal points of its core understanding:

 That products have a limited life.

 Also product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different
challenges, opportunities, and problems to the seller.

 The profits rise and fall at different stages of product life cycle.

 Lastly products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing,

purchasing, and human resource strategies in each life cycle stage.
SCHEMATIC GRAPH OF PLC
 STAGES OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
 Introduction stage Firm tries to promote demand for its new
offering, inform the market about it, give free samples to entice
consumers to make a trial purchase, and explain its features, uses,
and benefits.
 Growth stage Sales climb quickly as new customers join early
users who now are repurchasing the item.
 Maturity stage Industry sales eventually reach a saturation level
at which further expansion is difficult.
 Decline stage Sales fall and profits decline.
 STAGE I - INTRODUCTION
 Starting Price Quoted in the start was roughly between Rs. 8000 -
9000/-
 The company’s first scooter model, Chetak(intentionally it was given
the name of Maratha ruler Chatrapathi Shivaji’s horse’s name), was
launched in 1972.
 Chetak remained Bajaj’s flagship brand for over 10 years.
 There was a time when people had to wait hell lot of a time after pre
booking their Chetak.
 The Launch of Bajaj Chetak was mainly targeted at economical Class
and people could afford it considering its parallel competition in the
same segment market.
 Late 70s had been the Golden period for the Bajaj scooters,
especially the Chetak.
 In 1977 Bajaj Auto claimed to have sold a lakh of Chetaks in just one
FY.
 STAGE II - GROWTH
 Some of the Significant changes brought about in this scooter was
change in many tech specs, mainly compared to its competiton
from Motorbikes, Mopeds which were gaining grounds in term of
market share.
 Over 2 and a half decades until the halt of 1995 the company did
not face any stiff competition from any 2 wheeler market segment,
apart from the introduction of minor changes in its performance
parameters meaning more augmented changes in the scooter itself
like colour some peripheral outer changes in parts

 Some of the competition were from the scooter segments LML

Vespa Scooters, Automobile Products of India's Lambretta.
The Price wars was not the criteria for the competition as the demand itself
surpassed the supply and in India owning scooter at that time was a status
symbol.

Bajaj Chetak had targeted the soft spot of what most Indian people in that
time desired in their two wheelers which was durability, low maintenance
costs, and versatility, and the ease of its use which made it the most
dependable and flexible transport mode.

Briefly this Scooter is a comfortable riding machine, much economical to

your bank balance as compared to bikes, long lasting and durable, does not
need much repairs and when it does the spares are easily available and
inexpensive.

The main marketing strategy used by Bajaj Chetak was mainly targetting
the emerging middle class in India and adding the feeling of 'we' or the feeling
of belongingness by strong sentimental slogans like "Hamara Bajaj". The
Approach of this Marketing Strategy adopted by Chetak was Non-Pragmatic.
 STAGE III- MATURITY
 In the late 1990s, the Indian two-wheeler market witnessed a shift in
consumer preferences.

 The popularity of geared scooters began to wane while that of motorcycles

soared.

 There were various reasons for the shift -India was undergoing a
demographic change, with the proportion of younger people in the
population growing significantly; the economy was growing, which increased
the disposable incomes of the middle class; also, many newer models of
motorcycles, with improved designs and modern technology had become
available in the market.

 While these changes were taking place in the market, the features of
scooters, especially those of the Bajaj Chetak, remained essentially
unchanged.
 STAGE IV – DECLINE
 The primary reason is that the Brand forgot the customers.
Another case of Marketing Myopia. The company failed to
understand the changing perception of the customers
towards scooters. Rather than looking at the customers, the
company focused on influencing Government to block the
opening up of economy. Bajaj never did anything with the
product. For 40 years Chetak had the same look, same
quality and style.

 During the mid nineties the company realised lately that the
segment has shifted to motorcycles. Scooters were no longer
the option. But did the company made a mistake in
discarding the scooter segment ? Looking at the way the
share prices are going, the market
Reasons for Failure? or Decline?

Bajaj never was serious about product development. The

R&D spent for a long time was a miniscule 1%. The average
cycle time for the new product development was 4-5 years
compared to 2-3 years of Japanese competitors.

Even after the opening up of economy, the scooter segment

did not witness much competition.

The players like Vespa did not had much of success in this
segment. Kinetic Honda managed to carve a niche with its
gearless scooters. Another segment which was growing was the
scooterette segment which was dominated by TVS scooty.
The players like Vespa did not had much of success in this
segment. Kinetic Honda managed to carve a niche with its
gearless scooters. Another segment which was growing was
the scooterette segment which was dominated by TVS scooty.

Bajaj never seriously looked at customer perception about

Chetak. The product had serious problems like starting trouble
and riding comfort. The " Tilting the chetak to the side for
starting " was a common joke. Did the company do anything
for that ? No

There was nothing wrong with the Promotion. " Hamara

Bajaj " and " No one can beat a Bajaj " were famous base
lines. There was nothing wrong with distribution and the
pricing was very reasonable. The major problem was in the
first P : Product.
 OUR OWN STRATEGY
PRICE:
 Bajaj Chetak's price was truly affordable.
But the new motor cycles entering the two
wheeler segment offered better technology
& fuel efficiency than Bajaj Chetak at
almost same price.

 Price in our view was never a issue associated with this product, it
perfectly suited the profile of the product in the market whether
taken earlier in mid seventies or late nineties as it was according to
its offerings.

 It was perfectly targeting the economical class which was itself a

part of the large mass of population itself, meaning affordable
range.
PRODUCT:

The company should look upon its R&D and improve the
overall looks of Bajaj Chetak.

It should make efforts to change the quality & style of the
scooter to suit the tastes & preferences of its customers.

The product had serious problems like starting trouble &

riding comfort, which need to be eliminated. Auto start feature
which was prominent should have been introduced.

Though counted as efficient in many terms Fuel efficiency

was a major issue. In our view the combustion efficiency of the
scooter needed to be improved and efficiency in terms of
mileage needed a major boost.
PROMOTION & ADVERTISING:

The main marketing strategy used by Bajaj Chetak was

mainly targeting the emerging middle class in India and
adding the feeling of 'we' or the feeling of belongingness
by strong sentimental slogans like "Hamara Bajaj".

The Approach of this Marketing Strategy adopted by

Chetak was Non-Pragmatic

Bajaj Chetak should come out with various schemes &

incentives, no warranty schemes were wailed by the
company or ad-don products and service centers were less
in number which should have been more to ease customer
support and product maintenance centers.
 Thank You!!!

Indeed….truly it
was
“Hamara Bajaj”