‘Bajaj’ is a household name in India.
Founded in 1926, at the height ofIndia's movement for independence from the British, the Bajaj group has anillustrious history. Jamnalal Bajaj, founder of the group, was a closeconfidant and disciple of Mahatma Gandhi who adopted him as his son. This closerelationship and his deep involvement in the independence movement did notleave Jamnalal Bajaj with much time to spend on his newly launched businessventure.
In 1942, his son, Kamalnayan Bajaj, then 27, took over the reins ofbusiness. He is the founder of Bajaj Auto besides other companies Hetoo was close to Gandhiji and it was only after Independence in 1947, that hewas able to give his full attention to the business.
The Bajaj Auto group started off in the Automobile sector by the importof two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
In 1959, the company obtained license for manufacture of two-wheelersand three-wheelers. This was one of the biggest milestones for the company. In1972, the ‘Bajaj Chetak’ was launched in the Indian market. Anyone who belongedto the generation between 70’s to 90’s, will remember this name.
Bajaj Motorcycles and Kawasaki (the Japanese manufacturer) got into acollaboration for technology tie-up in 1984. The outcome of this was the‘Bajaj-Kawasaki Boxer’, which was yet another popular model of the time. Overthe years, Bajaj benefitted from the tie-up with technology that was much moreadvanced than indigenous technology.
By late 1990’s, Bajaj was self-reliant on their technology and haddeveloped many models with their own Research. Their collaboration continueduntil 2009, when the two companies decided to form an alliance, where Kawasakiwould use the dealer network of Bajaj for sale and service of Kawasaki bikes.This alliance was beneficial to both companies, and Kawasaki sold 13 differentmodels in India, in return for share in profit with Bajaj. In April 2017, thisalliance was called off as Kawasaki bikes faced competition from the KTM-Bajajalliance.
The Bajaj group has seen enormous success with some popular models suchas Bajaj Pulsar, Bajaj Avenger and Bajaj Discover. There are a number of ridingclubs for the Bajaj Avenger and the Bajaj Pulsar, was a revolution with itsdigital odometer and eye-catching design.
The Bajaj V was launched in 2016. The bike is made from the metal of the‘INS Vikrant’, which was India’s first aircraft carrier and has survived theIndo-Pak War of 1971. The launch of this model, was a strategic marketing move,by leveraging the history of the vessel. Although, it is indeed wonderful torelive the magic of the carrier by owning this bike. The ship was ordered to bedecommissioned in 1997.
The ‘Hamara Bajaj’ commercial moved many hearts and has truly motivatedmany in the country and has created a brand that cannot be forgotten. The adshave positioned themselves to represent the new generation, but withpreservation of Indian culture and values.
Today, Bajaj Motorcycles has three plants in all, two at Waluj(Aurangabad) and Chakan (Pune), in Maharashtra and one plant at Pant Nagar inUttaranchal. It is also the world’s fourth largest two– and three–wheelermanufacturer. The company exports to over 50 different countries and is awell-known name in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, South and South EastAsia. The main countries are Sri Lanka, Colombia, Bangladesh, Mexico, CentralAmerica, Peru and Egypt.