International BusinessBajaj hurt by son's move to exit scooters
Showing the rift in two-wheeler giant Bajaj Auto, Chairman Rahul Bajaj today differed with his son and Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj’s decision to exit production of scooters saying he was not only “not convinced” but also “hurt” by it.
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“I feel bad, I feel hurt,” Rahul Bajaj said, but son Rajiv said solutions should come more from logic than emotions. Rajiv Bajaj, who took over the reigns of Rs 8,500-crore group as managing director a few years ago, had said last week that the scooter production would be stopped by the current financial year to pave the way for augmenting growth in the motorcycle segment.
“I can’t say harm the company and its shareholders by doing something you should not do...But I am still not convinced. He (Rajiv) has tried to explain it to me,” Rahul Bajaj said in an interview to NDTV.
Reacting to his father’s remark, Rajiv Bajaj said during the show: “I care less for the solution from emotions. I believe more in the magic of logic.”
Rajiv Bajaj had last week announced plans to exit from the scooter segment by end of this fiscal and focus exclusively on motorcycles in the two-wheeler category as part of the company’s aim to become the world’s biggest bike maker in future. Bajaj Auto, which revolutionised the two-wheeler market in the country through its ‘Hamara Bajaj’ campaigns in the 1980s and 90s, today sells just one scooter model — the 100-cc gear-less Kristal.
“Brands that are more sharply positioned are brands that are more profitable...It (scooter) is not a really profitable market,” MD Rajiv Bajaj said. He, however, hinted the company might one day come back into the scooter segment.