Not withdrawing Bajaj V15 from the market, says Rakesh Sharma
The Bajaj V15 (150 cc) may not have clocked the expected sales figures but the Pune-based two-wheeler brand has no plans to discontinue the motorcycle. Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director Bajaj Auto, has told Moneycontrol that Bajaj Auto will not withdraw the V15 from the market. Do note that the company had stopped the sales of the V12 (125 cc) in May this year.
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Speaking to the website, Sharma said:
The V’s performance is disappointing. It caught the fancy (of the buyers). It is appealing to a very small segment of buyers. We did have the option of expanding the V range, but later we decided against that option. But we are not withdrawing it from the market, we are leaving it out there.
The average monthly sales of the V15 stood at 16,500 units in 2016, but the numbers tumbled to 7,300 units per month and 2,400 units per month in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Bajaj Auto sold zero units of the V15 from April to July this year.
Bajaj Auto has no plans to spend large amount of expenditure on marketing the product. Sharma added:
Because there are bigger fish to fry we are not backing it (V) up with a large marketing expenditure that new brands need. One would be very unkind to say that V is not doing well at all. It is disappointing and it is doing very small volumes. At this point in time, we would like to leave it there and those people who like that format and style will continue to service them.
In a bid to boost the sales, the company had introduced the V15 Power Up edition in December last year. Do note that a report from July this year claimed that Bajaj Auto had stopped the production of the V15. The motorcycle has not received the safety net of ABS yet. However, after listening to Sharma’s statement, it seems like an ABS-equipped model soon is in the pipeline. Bajaj Auto may introduce the V15 ABS closer to the festive season to clock better sales figure. The motorcycle will most likely be backed by festive season offers. Like the rest of the Bajaj range of products (except the Dominar 400), the V15 will likely use a single-channel ABS.
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The 149.53 cc single-cylinder, air-cooled, 4-stroke, SOHC, 2-valve, DTS-i engine on the standard V15 makes 12 PS at 7,500 while the Power Up edition pumps out 13 PS at 8,000 rpm. The peak torque on both variants is 13 Nm at 6,000 rpm.
[Source: Moneycontrol.com]
