Bajaj Auto’s electric scooter, Chetak is in high demand and the manufacturer plans to increase production in the country for the financial year 2022 (FY22).
“We are committed to the development of Electric Vehicles (EVs). Chetak is the first example. The setting up of Chetak Technology Ltd as a fully owned subsidiary of Bajaj Auto will aid in the research, development, production and sale of EVs,” the company stated.
In addition to Bengaluru and Pune, the iconic Chetak will be made in many other locations. The company increased the number of touch points to 20 in FY 2022 due to the high demand for the iconic model. The company stated that this number will increase to 75 by FY2023 in its Annual Report.
According to the company, bookings for this model were initially made in early 2020. However, it was stopped due to COVID. “We had to stop online bookings 48 hours after we reopened them on April 13, 2021, due to overwhelming demand.”
Without semiconductor chips, the entire automotive industry will not survive. Bajaj Auto Chairman Niraj Bajaj commented on the recent issue of chip shortages. He said that the issue will have an impact on the company’s production volumes. He said, “But, in all of my years, I have never seen the company face such an international supply constraint in terms of sheer scarcity of semiconductors.”
It is hard to predict when the supply shortage will end. Bajaj said that this will limit your company’s production as it does for all other automotive manufacturers. Bajaj, like other major auto companies, is not new to challenges. R&D is working hard to find solutions.
“Individual motorcycle sales in the country have declined by nearly 34% between FY 2019 and FY 20,22,” said Bajaj Auto. Bajaj Auto was able to reverse the decline in motorcycle sales and increase its market share, from 18% in FY 2021 to 18.2% in FY 2022,” said the Pune-based company. The company reported that it sold 8,187 units of the electric scooter category in FY21.