Bajaj Pulsar

Abstract: 1. To understand pulsar as a brand and its effectiveness in creating in brand awareness amongst customers. 2. To understand the marketing strategy currently deployed by pulsar. 3. To gain a measure of the competition existing in the same segments as pulsar. 4. To reposition pulsar in order to strengthen, diversify and build on market share and customer loyalty in India. 5. What is the reason failure for this product? 6. What marketing strategies followed? INTRODUCTION

ajaj Auto is a major automobile manufacturer based in Pune, India. It is one of the major producers of two wheelers and three wheelers and ranks 4th in the world in terms of two wheeler production. It is also planning a foray into the 4-wheeler market. The

firm in its initial years was into manufacturing scooters and auto rickshaws. It also enjoyed the lions share of the Indian two wheeler markets for a long duration of time. In the late Eighties and early nineties the market made a major shift in the type of vehicles on offer. New competitors like Yamaha and Hero-Honda came out with motorcycles, which were more powerful, better, looking and easier to handle. As such the consumers got attracted to motorcycles than scooters. Bajaj was slow to respond to the changing dynamics of the market and its market share started declining quickly. Bajaj entered into a partnership with the Japanese bike manufacturer Kawasaki to produce motorcycles for the Indian market. Still, it failed to garner any major share of the market. In the year 2001, Rajiv Bajaj, the scion of the Bajaj family came up with the idea of developing a powerful, stylish, rugged motorcycle, which would be priced lower than the existing products. And thus Pulsar was born. It came out in two variants 150cc and 180cc.

Bajaj Pulsar History The Bajaj Pulsar is a line of motorcycles produced by Indian automaker Bajaj Auto. More than 1 million Bajaj Pulsars have been produced, sold mainly in India where motorcycles are a common form of daily transportation. The Bajaj Pulsar has been available for sale in India since 2001. Though all Bajaj Pulsars are similarly constructed, it is available with a variety of engine options. WHY BAJAJ PULSAR? Bajaj Auto started in the year 1945. It started selling imported 2 & 3 wheeler vehicles in 1959. They subsequently obtained a license to produce 2 & 3 wheelers. During the 60s, 70s and 80s there was a 10-year waiting period for its products. The company only had to produce its quota. Marketing or sales was not too much of an issue for them. Also the companys owner was infamous for being part of the anti-liberalization lobby called Bombay Club. In the 80s and the 90s many foreign players like Honda, Yamaha etc. came into play in Indian markets and played a significant role in easing out some of the Indian brands. Bajaj is probably the only Indian brand to emerge stronger out of the competition by developing products on its own. Pulsar it exemplifies the fighting spirit of Bajaj. It is a classic example of an Indian company of the pre-liberalization era, adapting itself to the changing scenario and coming out on tops. Bajaj changed its product strategy when it started concentrating on the bike market. Pulsar was the first indigenously developed motorcycle by Bajaj for the Indian bike market and was the reason for the turnaround of Bajaj fortunes. Many Indian companies, in order to acquire the technical know how entered into joint collaborations with foreign companies e.g. Hero motors with Honda, LML with Vespa, Bajaj with Kawasaki etc. Though Bajaj depended on Kawasaki for its initial forays into the Bike market, now it has disassociated itself from Kawasaki and has emerged as a truly Global Indian brand. Another interesting fact is how liberalization can work wonders for a firm, which was one of the most skeptical of liberalization policies of the Indian government. So Pulsar as a whole has been a brand, which has brought major changes not only in the Indian Motorcycle Industry but also in the Bajaj business empire.
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Origins

The Bajaj Pulsar was designed jointly by Bajaj Auto and Tokyo R&D, a Japanese design firm with other successful motorcycles under its belt. The development took several years and was a costly enterprise, putting the financial future of Bajaj Auto at stake. In the late 1990s, the Indian market for motorcycles was dominated by smaller, more efficient models. Recently introduced models, however, were selling well despite larger engines and higher fuel consumption. This led the Bajaj Pulsar to be designed as a performance model that still retained a relatively low cost. Targeted at young buyers, it was a major sales success from its introduction. In a way, the Bajaj Pulsar revolutionized the market for motorcycles in India, leading riders to expect higher performance and power ratings even from modest, entry-level bikes.

First Bajaj Pulsars

The initial Bajaj Pulsar was available with either a 150cc or 180cc engine. Both were single-cylinder, air-cooled engines. The Bajaj Pulsar was very simply designed, using only springs as shock absorbers and a single spark plug. Optional features were few, but included an electronic ignition system. Disc brakes, standard on the Bajaj Pulsar, were a major selling point as, up until that time, they had typically been reserved for higher end models.

The early Bajaj Pulsars were very popular, both for their appearance and performance. By 2003 the 150-250cc market class was firmly established and buyers were no longer unwilling to spend more money for a higher performance motorcycle. Building on its sales success, Bajaj Auto began a series of improvements that would keep the Bajaj Pulsar novel and commercially viable for years to come.

Later Models

The first new major versions of the Bajaj Pulsar were offered in 2007. These new models featured 200cc and 220cc engines and were known as the Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTS-i and Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi, respectively. The new Bajaj Pulsars employed fuel injection instead of

a carburetor. The new engines were also oil-cooled, as opposed to the air-cooled 150cc and 180cc models. In 2009 Bajaj refreshed the original 150cc and 180cc models. The 150cc Pulsar was offered with a special black paint scheme and a 3-D logo. Similar cosmetic upgrades appeared on the 180cc Pulsar, which was now rated at 17 horsepower. Also new for 2009 was the Bajaj Pulsar DTS-i, a high-performance version of the Pulsar 220cc model, which, at the time of its debut, was the fastest motorcycle available in India.

SHIFTING TRENDS TOWARDS MOTORCYCLES

First let us analyze the change in the preference of the Indian customers in the two-wheeler industry. In the 90s with growth in the average income of the Indian middle class the primary consumers of the two-wheeler market and the increasing number of choices in the motorcycle segment, there came a gradual increase in the sales of motorcycles. There were many other factors for this

Advanced technologies in the bikes Larger wheel base there fore easy to navigate rough Indian roads Higher mileage, less maintenance cost, tougher.

The following table shows the increasing share of motorcycles in the Indian market in the 90s.

Year Total In '000 1993 1,503.36 1994 1,770.22 1995 2,209.23 1996 2,660.04

Overall Growth -6.40 17.75 24.80 20.41

Scooter No. 709.73 840.17 1,033.52 1,223.43 %

Motorcycle No. % 47.2 379.06 47.5 472.58 46.8 652.01 46.0 809.53

Moped No. %

25.2 414.57 27.6 26.7 457.47 25.8 29.5 523.70 23.7 30.4 627.08 23.6
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1997 2,963.49 1998 3,042.85 1999 3,403.43 2000 3,745.55

11.41 2.68 11.85 -0.80

1,301.05 1,262.70 1,325.87 901.88

43.9 978.68 41.5 1,131.31 39.0 1,395.66 24.0 2,156.03

33.0 683.76 23.1 37.2 648.84 21.3 41.0 681.90 20.0 58.0 687.64 18.0

Source: (SIAM). No. Number of Units (in '000) This factor also played an important role in the success of Indian bikes like Hero Honda Splendor, Bajaj Pulsar.

Vision: To attain world class excellenceby demonstrating value added products to customers.

Mission:

Focus on value based manufacturing Continuous improvement Total elimination of waste Pollution free and safe environment

Objective: Bajaj limited is to cater the market needs of transportation by providing 2 wheeler and 3 wheeler vehicles.

Bal has been producing the catalogue products to cater to the changing market requirements. Based on the customer feedback, improvements are being made continuously in the existing products.

Goal:

The catapult bajaj auto as the countrys largest automobile company.

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Strength: Highly experienced management. Product design and development capabilities. Extensive R & D focus. Widespread distribution network. High economies of scale.

Weaknesses: o Hasnt employed the excess cash for long. o Not a global player in spite of huge volumes. o Not a globally recognizable brand(unlike the partner Kawasaki)

Threats:

The competition catches up any new innovation in no time. Threats of cheap imported motorcycles from china. Tough competition faced by foreign as well as domestic players

MARKETING HISTORY

Bajaj entrusted the responsibility of communicating the brand value of Pulsar through media campaigns to O&M who came out with the brilliant ad of DEFINITELY MALE. Pulsar was initially targeted to 18-24 age group. The youth wanted powerful, stylish bikes, which would suit their pockets and give them good mileage. The higher powered bikes in the market e.g. RE, CBZ were too pricey, high on maintenance or low on mileage.

What O&M needed to do was to attract attention of the youth, more so since the target market for the product was very niche. And the punch line DEFINITELY MALE did fire the youths
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imagination. It was very novel of O&M to come up with the idea of associating a motorbike with Gender. Pulsar got positioned as the He-Bike of India. The product was unquestionably a success and Bajaj started increasing the breadth of its target market.

Bajaj also refused to rest on its laurels. It constantly kept working on upgrading the product and came up with DTSI (Digital Twin Spark Ignition) version of the Bike in the year 2005. The new technology helped the bike to give better mileage. Also the styling was changed stylized headlights, tail lights etc. This time around, Leo Burnett managed the ad campaign. They came out with the new punch line DIGITAL-BIKING keeping in consideration the new technology DTSI. The mega-successful DEFINITELY MALE slogan was given away with. This, though it communicated the introduction of the new technology to the consumers, missed the trick in positioning it as the classic HE-BIKE.

We have examples from Bike Manufacturers who have developed a unique theme for their Bikes and kept their positioning constant over a long duration of time earning unparalleled Brand loyalty and exclusivity such as Harley Davidson & Royal Enfield. However Pulsar had been so well established as a Product and its pricing and distribution were so strong that even indifferent promotional campaigns could hardly make too much of a difference to sales figures. In continuation of Bajajs strategy to come up with better products, the upgraded version of pulsar was launched in 2007 with digital console display and LED taillights, which were a novelty in the Indian market.

Subsequently Bajaj came up with newer variants of Pulsar 200cc & 220 cc. The 200cc bike had a lot of innovations like oil cooled engine, twin rails etc. The bike was launched with a FREE BIKING campaign shot in Cuba by O&M. Two Bikers riding Pulsar 200cc bikes were shown zipzapping their way through buildings and crowded streets of Havana. Bajaj tried to communicate that it does not matter where you are biking but how you are biking, when you are atop a Pulsar 200cc. Though the message might have been a bit complex for the typical Indian motorcycle owner, the freshness of the ad really popularized the bikes.
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The latest in the series of Pulsar ads is the PULSARMANIA one, where 4 bikers perform varied stunts atop Pulsar bikes. They have been very popular and aim to extend the macho image of Pulsar bikes further.

ANALYSING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN TERMS OF BUYING ROLES, DECISION

MAKING PROCESS AND KIND OF PURCHASE BEHAVIOR AJAJ PULSAR has been one of the leading brands of motorcycles from the BAJAJ stable for the last 7 years or so. Right from its inception in the year 2001, the bike has been the market leader in its segment despite stiff competition from many others

including one of the biggies who had the first mover advantage. It has strived to be ahead of its competitors, through a mix of product and marketing innovation, solid performance bikes and good marketing strategies. Throughout this it has maintained a loyal base of supporters, which have clung to it for years. Marketing management of PULSAR has been highly successful as it has been able to acquire, retain and grow its customer base every year.

In this section we are going to analyze the behavior of consumers of BAJAJ PULSAR in terms of their buying roles, decision-making process and kind of purchase behavior.

BUYING ROLES

In the 70s and 80s Frederick E. Webster, Yoram Wind and Thomas Bonoma developed the six buying role model of the consumer. According to them a buying centre has members who play the following role in purchase process.

1. INITIATOR: Identifies the need. 2. INFLUENCER: influences the views of buyers 3. DECIDER: the one who ultimately decides about buying 4. BUYER: holds the formal authority to select 8

5. USER: consumer of the product 6. GATEKEEPER: controls information or access to decision makers.

Though the model involved industrial buyers, we can take it as a rough foundation for analyzing the buying roles of consumers.

Lets do the analysis on the basis of the models or variants in which PULSAR is available.

150cc

The target customer base of the PULSAR has always been the age group of 20-35. The 150cc model costs about 60,000 INR and is the cheapest of all PULSAR models. So its target base is also the college going kids and young office going people mostly. In the case of the college public, the INITIATOR & USER becomes the college going kid. But the final BUYER & DECIDER in most of the cases are the parents of the college going kids. Since Pulsar is a brand which gets very good publicity by word of mouth, the INFLUENCER in this case is the kids friends, social circle, magazines, girlfriends etc.
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In the case of the office going people, the person using it only plays most of the roles. Only the coworkers, friend circles to a large extent and family to a small extent plays the role of INFLUENCER.

Let us now look at the factors which generally influence the decision making process of consumers in buying 150cc pulsar.

For the college going student, the major factors, which influence him in buying a PULSAR, are are BAJAJ Its Brand name, the feeling of stability and reliability associated with it. Extensive service center network and dealership locations across the country, so less maintenance worries. Could be used as a family bike also. There have also been instances when the parents might have owned a Bajaj scooter earlier and is loyal to brand Bajaj in his own right. For the office going people the major factors which help in decision making, have been observed to be Sense of style and power along with highest mileage in the segment. Low maintenance. High resale value etc. The looks and styling very international and contemporary according to many. It brings about a macho image people feel it heightens their esteems among the group especially girls. Peer influence Power & acceleration higher than the entry segment bikes.

For the parents, who are the final buyers, the factors, which have been observed to be influencing,

One of the recent factors influencing the buying has been observed to be
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The initiation of BAJAJ into auto-finance through its company BAJAJ AUTO FINANCE LTD. (BAFL). It has been coming up with some very innovative offers like very little down payment and 0% interest loans.

There has been observed, an increase or spurt in the sales figures in general during College starting months June- August. Launch of a new improved version e.g. when the DTSI model was launched.

As concerned, buying intervals, most of the bikes are used for an average of 3-4 years and many purchases are repeat purchases. The sale of the 150cc bikes has been observed to be the most among all brand offerings (e.g. 180 cc, 200 cc) of PULSAR not only due to its pricing but also due to the mileage factor. Entry of good competitor products e.g. UNICORN, HUNK etc. has had temporarily reduced the sales of PULSAR 150CC in the past but none has been able to give a long hard competition to PULSAR. A greater portion of the buying payments has been met through EMI Loans, so the rise of interest rates has affected the sales a bit. Also Bajaj might need to come up with new strategies to counter the dual challenge posed by rising inflation and interest rates to sustain sales of Pulsar 150 cc. 180CC

It is a higher end bike in terms of features and powers. Accordingly the cost also increases to about 65000 INR. The fuel costs also increase proportionately. So the target customers of BAJAJ for this level of motorcycles are the people a little higher in the income level E.g. Managers, executives, rich college kids etc.

Thus the DECIDER, BUYER, USER, INITIATOR roles are played by the end user himself. The people who prefer the 180cc over the 150cc are mostly those with a passion for biking, power lovers, bike enthusiasts etc.

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BAJAJ also targets this section of customer through its ads focusing on the joy of riding like PULSARMANIA, Free Biking etc. Let us look at the factors influencing the decision making of this group of customers. They are This segment is relatively new with very less competitors. So prospective buyers more or less gravitate to the available choices PULSAR being the prominent among them. Influence from the peer group and friends. Brand equity of PULSAR and word of mouth publicity. People buying in these segments also tend to get influenced by online reviews available on the Internet.

Also since people buying in this category plan their purchase over a longer period of time and are relatively better off financially, this section of bikes has observed lesser proportion of EMI based purchases.

200cc

These bikes have been recent introductions to the Pulsar Brand. Their popularity is also steadily increasing at par with their other counterparts. They are oil-cooled models, which give better performance especially when the bike is run over longer periods of time. They are sold at a heavier price range of 72 to85 thousand. They are intended mainly for biking enthusiasts and act as an alternative for those who cannot afford high power costly imported bikes.

In terms of buying roles, the peer group of the biker etc. may play the role of INFLUENCER. Other than that the end user himself plays most of the roles.

Various sources of secondary data establish these facts as mentioned. Also our survey points to similar facts.
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Out of 53 participants a majority of 38 respondents either owned a pulsar or indicated that they prefer owning one in future. 13 of them had consulted reviews on websites before going for Pulsar. Also an amazing 16 out of the 19 pulsar owners were very satisfied with the product and said they would/do recommend the product to their friends.

CUSTOMER RETENTION Lifecycle of bike is relatively large (compared to other products like grocery items, clothes, etc.) and it is not that sort of product that people will buy twice a year or even once every year. So customer retention is not limited to the act of customers coming back to buy the same product again and again. Here, it takes a broad meaning and encompasses customer satisfaction with its usage; service by the vendors and service centres; and as a result customers who have already bought the product recommending the same to other prospective customers, users forming clubs to support the brand and also helping in testing etc of any new launches. We must say Bajaj has done extremely well in this area also. Sales of Pulsar as well as its popularity have been leading those of other bikes. Also in cities like Pune there are bikers clubs, which owe serious allegiance to the brand Bajaj. People who had bought it and were happy with it started a Website www.pulsarclub.com. This all is testimony to the successful customer retention for Pulsar by the Bajaj Auto.

Another initiative taken by Bajaj Auto is Bajaj Confidence Extended Warranty Plans, which extends basic 2-year/30000km warranty coming with the purchase of new Bajaj Bike at a very nominal price. This extended warranty gets activated as soon as the basic warranty expires. This initiative has been taken to provide better service to the existing customers and hence focuses on customer retention and better customer relationship management. It needs to be seen how this new initiative does in achieving goals of customer retention.

Marketing management is often described as the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value. While DEALERSHIP AND SERVICE NETWORK is focusing on getting and
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growing customers, CUSTOMER RETENTION focuses on keeping customers through superior customer value. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS, THEIR ACTIVITIES, STATUS AND STRATEGIES

ajaj Pulsar has been in the market for about 7 years now. It has revolutionized the Indian bike market with its innovative offerings both in terms of product quality as well as style. Consumers now have the choice of bikes which are high both on quality i.e.

mileage and performance as well as style. Pulsar commands about 60% of the market share in the 150cc plus category. This figure was higher initially, but with increased competition from other bike manufacturers in the same category; its market share has decreased. Hereon we will try to identify and analyze the status, strategies and activities of major competitors of Pulsar to understand its competitive scenario. Some of the major competitors of Bajaj with bikes in the 150cc + category which are a competition to Pulsar are

Hero Honda TVS Yamaha Foreign Competitors

HERO HONDA & HONDA MOTORS

Hero Honda is the largest Bike manufacturer in the world. In India also, it leads in the overall bike market, but in the 150cc plus category its models are lagging Bajaj Pulsar in the overall market share. Bajaj Pulsars main competitors from the Hero Honda stable are CBZ, Achiever, Hunk and Karizma.

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HERO-HONDA KARIZMA AND CBZ XTREME

KARIZMA has been a major competitor for Pulsar in the 180cc, 200cc category. It is a sports bike with a niche market. Hero Honda has adopted a different marketing strategy to promote it. Since it is a bike primarily targeted for the youth, they used mediums, which were frequented by youth. They have Hrithik Roshan as their brand ambassador. Hero Honda constantly sponsors adventure rallies through Karizma brand name. The popular TV show MTV Roadies sponsored by Karizma has elevated its status as a brand and increased its popularity. A separate site for the Bike with forums for consumers to discuss the bike has been an innovative marketing strategy. Honda through its separate venture has come up with many bikes. It has Unicorn in its stable, which is a significant competitor of Pulsar. It has found many supporters due to its better handling and gearshifts than Pulsar. Honda has always positioned it as its main bike. TVS MOTORS The Indian automotive industry is increasingly getting competitive and the two-wheeler segment within it is also facing its own share of challenges. As part of the industry, TVS Motors, the countrys third largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, is also giving a stiff competition to Bajaj products. TVS Group of companies engaged in the manufacturing of almost all kinds of automotive components, two wheelers and a few other industrial products. They are also into the financial services sector. The turnover of the entire group was close to $2 billion in 2003. The company has launched its latest bike Flame and has got some big plans up its sleeves. The year
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2007-08 was a milestone for TVS Motor as it is likely to achieve sales one million motorcycles. Last year, the company sold a little over 800,000 motorcycles. TVS motorcycles product segment includes:

TVS MAX 100 TVS Suzuki Samurai TVS Fiero TVS Star TVS Star City TVS Star Sport TVS Centra TVS Apache TVS Flame

Strategies to stay competitive:

1. Constant Quality Improvement : Significant efforts have gone silently into quality improvement. Today, Star has the best warranty record in the Indian two-wheeler industry. It took at least two products worth of efforts to get TVS quality up to that standard, where it is equal or better than the best. The new offerings are targeted at different segments of the two- and three-wheeler customers with emphasis on superior technology, styling and engine capabilities 2.Thrust on Research and development: TVS Motor Company has decided to double its R&D (research and development) spending this year. Over 300 personnel are deployed for product development. The company will strive to set out a new benchmark in this area. There was a discontinuity and break in cadence of its products. After Victor it came with Scooty Pep which has done well; Apache which has got a good record in the market; and then Star. Now, it has got Flame, which will be a worthy rival to Pulsar. 3.Product for every pocket :
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TVS Motors has just launched seven products in a first-of-its-kind rollout in the Indian automobile industry. The seven products include a completely new 125 cc motorcycle FLAME, an all new 110 cc Star City, an Apache variant with fuel injection technology and the electric variant of a Scooty. The new offerings are targeted at different segments of the two- and threewheeler customers with emphasis on superior technology, styling and engine capabilities. YAMAHA MOTORS

Yamaha was one of the first foreign companies to enter into India. It began operations with a JV with Escorts India. By the turn of the century, the JV between Escorts and Yamaha broke off. With the relaxation of FDI norms to 100%, Yamaha was in Indian markets as a fully owned subsidiary of Yamaha Motors, Japan. This was advantageous in many ways. Firstly Yamaha had now full control of its operations, it could decide the strategies. Secondly it could bring world-class technologies from Japan to India, which could act as its competitive advantage.

From 2002 onwards Yamaha started a process of rebuilding by concentrating more on 100cc plus deluxe category of motorcycles with bikes like Libero. These set of two wheelers come with international style, cutting edge technology, fuel efficiency, power delivery, and stylized graphics. The present stable of Yamaha includes bikes like Crux (100cc), Alba (106cc) and Gladiator (125cc).

As far as the 150 cc segment is concerned, Yamaha was not much of a competitor for Bajaj Pulsar until now. It has some bikes in the premium category above 500cc but then they too have their niche customers, which would not clash with those of pulsar.

Gladiator though not in the same category as Pulsar, has been a competitor for Pulsar. The main factors that work in favor of Gladiator is the huge price difference of about 12,000 between Gladiator and Pulsar, the higher mileage of Gladiator and durability.

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The company is riding on the popularity of Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham for marketing its two wheelers. These campaigns focus on Yamaha as a brand for the youth with emphasis on style, performance and technology. These campaigns have been successful in denting the share of Pulsar a little.

YAMAHA GLADIATOR JOHN ABRAHAM FOREIGN COMPETITORS

Foreign players have been an integral part of the Indian auto market since long. It was the foreign players expertise that brought cutting edge technology into motorbikes and scooters went out for a toss. Post liberalization some of them have come out with bikes form their own stables. Also we have bike manufacturers in china who are a major threat to Indian bike makers. Chinese manufacturers produce at very cost and sell the products at low margins. They concentrate on production rather than marketing their products. It is very evident from their strategy that they target markets like India, Africa and Latin America and not developed markets like US or Europe. With increasing globalization and reduction of trade barriers they will be a major threat. Also there have been incidents when the Chinese have been found not to be very keen on conforming to IPRs or patents etc., a blatant case being a Chinese duplicate of Bajaj pulsar, called GULSAR and sold in the South American market. It may well very easily gnaw into Indian bike producers share. Also with the Indian economy growing at a much bigger rate then the developed countries markets and with a sixth of world population, which is growing richer by the day, it is evident that the market of the future is here. As a result all big bike manufacturers will make for the Indian market in the near future.
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Indian market for bikes-overview: Indian market for bikes was primarily comprised of the fuel efficient, smaller capacity motor cycles. The smaller capacity motorcycles were available in the 80 to 125cc category. However, the launch and subsequent success of Honda cbz bike in 1999 proved that there is a huge potential for performance bikes in the Indian market. Bajaj auto decided to capitalize this opportunity and hence launched the Bajaj pulsar in the month of nov 2001. Bajaj pulsar product: When bajaj pulsar made its debut in the market in the year 2001 two variation of the bike,in the form of 150cc and 180cc engines were offered to the potential customers. The bike offered 12 bhp of maximum power. Disc brakes as the feature in pulsar were offered for the first time motorcycle market. The second generation of pulsar was launched in Indian market in the year 2003.The latest version of pulsar incorporated DTSi technology DTSi stands for digital twin spark ignition this technology was developed by Bajaj auto and it holds an Indian patent for the same. with the integration of DTSi technology in to the pulsar, the power rating was improved by one bhp and also the fuel efficient of bike was enhanced. In 2005,bajaj auto launched yet another upgraded version of pulsar.This version bike was offered with a17 inch alloy wheels as a standard option fort the first time.also,the power rating in both the 150cc as well as 180cc version of the bike was improved. Bajaj pulsar the price: The following table shows the average price of a Bajaj pulsar bike (according to bike variations)in cities belonging to both metro as well as non_metro category. Bike version Bajaj 150cc pulsar Bajaj 180cc Bajaj 200cc Bajaj 200 DTS Fi Bajaj 220 DTSi Avg price in Rs.in metros 64375 66625 76125 91875 70000(Ex-showroom) Avg price in Rs.in non_metros 63666 65666 75000 91000 93000

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Bajaj pulsar-place: Dealership system of Bajaj auto The company has a network of 498 dealers and over 1500 authorized service centres across the country. Around 1400 rural outlets have been created in towns with population of 25000 and below. Following are the various types of showrooms implemented by Bajaj auto: Coco: these are company owned and company operated showrooms. These concepts exist only for pro-biking showroom. Codo:these are company owned and dealer operated showrooms. In this case showroom are owned by the company but the operations in the showroom are managed by the dealers. this model is followed when Bajaj wants to provide the dealer financial benefits. Promotion: Pulsar was the bike that was launched by Bajaj auto without the collaboration of the Kawasaki Company. Also this bike was a technological and a designing marvel. The creative promotion campaign for Bajaj pulsar handle by the renowned advertising agency ogilvyand mather.The creative team decided to endow the bike with a gender talking this idea into consideration the campaign with a tag line called Definitely male was launched. The promotion compaign,coupled with the design and the performance of the bike,helped the company in achieving excellent sales numbers for the pulsar bike. Promotion transitions: When Bajaj auto launched the dtsi technology for the pulsar bike in the year 2003the creative promotion responsibility was assigned to another agency called leoburnett. Bajaj pulsar is also associated with a reality show called stunt mania that is aired on MTV channel. This show targets the audience in the age group of 18 and above. This show also mention about bike maintenance and rider safety. References: . http://www.scribd.com/doc/39326015/Bajaj-Pulsar-Marketing-Mix-Report
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajaj_Auto http://www.24dunia.com/english/search/promotion-strategy-of-bajaj-pulsar.html

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