India's Bajaj Auto deepens EV push with motorcycle plans, Chetak expansion (updated)

Bajaj Auto

21/07/2026 08:52

Recasts story, adds CFO comments in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7
By Mridula Kumar

    July 21 (Reuters) - Bajaj Auto BAJA.NS said on Tuesday it expects to launch electric motorcycles in fiscal 2028 and expand production of its Chetak EV scooter as it seeks to strengthen its position in India's competitive two-wheeler market.
The automaker said its electric vehicles, which include scooters and three-wheelers, contributed about 30% of its domestic revenue in the quarter.
The push comes as rivals, including two-wheeler legacy companies TVS Motor TVSM.NS, Hero MotoCorp HROM.NS and newer entrant Ather Energy ATHR.NS, step up competition in the country's fast-growing electric two-wheeler market.
The maker of Pulsar motorcycle also reported a 42.3% rise in first-quarter profit to 29.83 billion rupees ($299.62 million) on strong domestic and overseas demand, while revenue was up 36.3% to 164.62 billion rupees.
Demand in India's auto industry continued to improve after the September tax cut, even as automakers faced higher commodity, energy and freight costs due to disruptions caused by the U.S.-Iran conflict that began in February.
Bajaj Auto's CFO Dinesh Thapar said in a post-earnings call that demand for electric two-wheelers had outpaced supply during the quarter, spurring the company to expand capacity.
Thapar added the firm aims to increase production capacity for its Chetak electric scooter to 60,000 units per month from 50,000 units in the immediate term.
"We've had a situation in Chetak where demand has outpaced supply. And what we are essentially doing now is to try and augment supply in the next couple of months for Chetak as well," he said.
Exports remained a key driver for Bajaj Auto in the first quarter, with overseas volumes rising 52% to 636,005 units, helped by growth in Latin America and a rebound in Africa.
Domestic two-wheeler sales grew 11% in the quarter, compared with industry‑wide growth of 20.3%, according to data from industry body SIAM.
Bajaj's rival, TVS Motors, also reported a jump in quarterly profit on robust demand for higher-margin motorcycles.

             
($1 = 96.2225 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Mridula Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Janane Venkatraman and Vijay Kishore)
 ((mridula.kumar@thomsonreuters.com))