Picking up speed

Mumbai, March 25: Bajaj Auto, the second largest motorcycle maker in the country, plans to sell 40 lakh units next fiscal, a growth of nearly 40 per cent.

To meet this target, the company plans to raise its capacity by 25 per cent to 50 lakh units in the next one year.

“Bajaj has set itself a sales target of 4 million (40 lakh) vehicles for 2010-11, representing a growth of almost 40 per cent,” Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj said in a statement today.

The new sales target was set at the company’s board meeting held today.

Exports will comprise 10 lakh units of the total sales next fiscal.

While motorcycle sales are expected to be over 36 lakh units, about 4 lakh units of commercial vehicles (three-wheelers) will be sold, Bajaj said.

Higher sales target for the next fiscal spurred the Bajaj Auto shares on the bourses today.

On the BSE, the stock rose nearly 1.60 per cent to close at Rs 1,879.55.

In February, motorcycle sales rose nearly 31 per cent to 6,42,419 units.

Bajaj Auto’s motorcycle sales rose 78 per cent to 2.34 lakh units, while three-wheeler sales went up 59 per cent to 33,968 units over the same month last year.

Exports increased 53 per cent to 77,642 units.

In another statement, Bajaj Auto said all the vehicles had been made compliant with Bharat Stage III norms in early March, much ahead of the April 1 deadline.

The Bharat Stage III norms will be followed and implemented on the recommendations of the R.A. Mashelkar committee for the control of pollution in the country.

Emission standards set specific limits on the amount of pollutants that can be released into the environment.

Under Bharat Stage III regulations for two-wheelers, the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons plus nitrogen oxide emission has to be brought down from 1.50 (g/km) to 1.0 (g/km) from April 2010.

The norms will be applicable in all the major states from April 1.