Bajaj Auto is the world’s largest three-wheeler maker and India’s number-one motorcycle exporter, an 80-year-old company that began as a trading firm in 1945 and went public in 1960. Over the decades it has repeatedly used the cash from its dominant petrol-engine franchise to build the next thing - first a premium motorcycle export business, then a controlling stake in the European sports-bike group KTM, and now a fast-scaling electric vehicle (EV) platform spanning scooters and three-wheelers that already contributes over a fifth of domestic revenue. That pattern - run a hydrocarbon cash cow, use it to fund consumer platforms at national scale, and place a green-energy bet for the future - is the recurring logic behind everything the company does.
Business segments
Five engines at different stages - a hydrocarbon cash cow, two consumer platforms at national scale, and a green-energy bet under construction - each built with the cash flows of the one before.
1. Three-wheelers: the franchise that funds everything else
With nearly three-quarters of the domestic market and leadership in every sub-segment, this business generates the surplus that lets the company build motorcycles, scooters and EVs.
- Dominant in the fuel that matters most - CNG (compressed natural gas) now powers 62% of the industry, and Bajaj holds close to 90% of that segment, so as pump networks expand the company captures the shift from diesel and petrol automatically.
- Widest fit-for-purpose portfolio - the company makes passenger carriers, goods carriers, large and small vehicles, and a quadricycle called the Qute, which means a single dealer can serve every use case from last-mile delivery to rural taxi fleets.
- Credit is the enabler - in India, nearly 65% of two-wheelers and 85% of three-wheelers retailed are financed, and Bajaj has formed a wholly owned captive financing company that has applied to RBI for an NBFC license to increase geographic coverage and expand financing options for retail customers.
- Electric three-wheelers are already number one - the WEGO brand, launched with the industry’s largest battery (up to 18 kWh) and a 296 km certified range, took the top registration spot throughout the final quarter of FY26, proving the EV transition is additive rather than cannibalistic.
2. Motorcycles: the export engine and domestic premium play
A portfolio of over 60 models sold in more than 100 countries, built around the Pulsar brand - a ₹16,500-crore global franchise - and a deliberate move away from low-margin entry-level bikes.
- Pulsar is the anchor - the sports-motorcycle brand crossed ₹10,000 crore in domestic revenue in FY24 and sold over 1.4 million units that year, with half of current sales coming from ten new variants launched in a single six-month window.
- Exports are a hedge, not an afterthought - the company is number one or two in 22 of its 70 export countries, and over 80% of export revenue comes from markets where it holds a top-two position, so a downturn in India is partly offset by demand in Africa or Latin America.
- The CNG motorcycle is a category of one - the Freedom 125, the world’s first dual-fuel CNG bike, cuts fuel costs by roughly half versus a petrol equivalent and became a ₹500-crore brand within five months of launch, creating a new segment that no competitor has yet matched.
- Premium means pricing power - the NS125 is priced almost 22% above the average 125cc bike, and the company’s domestic focus is on the 125cc-plus segment, which now accounts for over three-quarters of its motorcycle sales.
3. Pro-Biking: a European sports-bike group controlled from India
KTM and Triumph together put 2.25 lakh riders on premium motorcycles globally each year, manufactured at a fungible plant in Chakan and sold through a shared showroom network - a distribution model that makes stand-alone premium outlets viable in smaller cities.
- The KTM acquisition turned a partnership into control - after an 18-year alliance that began in 2007, Bajaj now owns 100% of the holding company that controls roughly three-quarters of KTM AG, Europe’s largest sports-motorcycle manufacturer, giving it full say over product, cost and market strategy.
- One plant, two brands - the Chakan-2 facility can produce 25,000 KTM or Triumph motorcycles a month on the same lines, so volume swings between the two brands are absorbed without idle capacity.
- Shared showrooms solve the reach problem - about 50 joint KTM-Triumph showrooms are already operating, a format that makes it economical to sell premium bikes in towns where a single-brand store would lose money.
- A tax change became a product advantage - when GST on sub-350cc bikes dropped from 28% to 18% in late 2025, the company replaced its 400cc line-up with 350cc variants within six months, something only an in-house R&D and manufacturing setup could do that fast.
4. Chetak: the electric scooter platform scaling to national leadership
A revived iconic brand that has gone from 8,000 units to over 300,000 in four years, reached roughly 23% market share, and turned EBITDA-neutral - all while building an in-house EV technology stack.
- Built, not bought - the entire EV system - battery, motor, vehicle control unit, battery management, telematics - was developed by Bajaj’s dedicated R&D subsidiary, so the company owns the cost curve and is not dependent on a third-party supplier’s roadmap.
- Supply shocks were solved in-house - when China restricted exports of rare-earth magnets, the R&D team designed alternate motors using light rare-earth materials and found new geographic sources, restoring supply within months.
- Distribution is physical, not just digital - over 500 exclusive Chetak Experience Centres and more than 4,000 touchpoints across 850-plus cities mean a buyer can test-ride and service the scooter in places where EV infrastructure is still thin.
- Unit economics have crossed the line - the portfolio reached EBITDA-neutral in FY26, so every additional scooter sold now contributes to overhead recovery rather than deepening a loss.
5. Spares and captive finance: the recurring-revenue layer
A highly profitable after-sales parts business and a wholly owned NBFC that finances nearly half of all Bajaj vehicles sold in India - together they turn a one-time vehicle sale into a stream of repeat income.
- Spares are a quiet profit centre - quarterly spares revenue hit ₹1,700 crore in early 2026, growing at 16% with record margins, because every vehicle on the road eventually needs replacement parts and the company is the sole supplier of genuine components.
- The finance arm removes the credit bottleneck - Bajaj Auto Credit Ltd. (BACL) has an AUM of roughly ₹19,000 crore, serves 1.8 million customers, and reaches about 6,200 outlets, so a buyer who cannot get a bank loan can still ride out of the showroom.
- Credit quality is investment-grade - BACL carries a AAA long-term rating, a gross NPA of under 2%, and an industry-leading return on equity of about 23%, which means it funds itself cheaply and lends profitably.
Manufacturing and supply chain
Four Indian plants with 7.2 million units of annual capacity, plus a factory in Brazil, all run on a 25-year-old Total Productive Maintenance system that has been extended to vendors and even overseas distributor plants.
- TPM is the operating system - the Chakan plant was the first automotive factory in India to win the World Class TPM Award from Japan’s plant-maintenance institute, and all four Indian plants hold the Special Award for TPM Achievement, a first-in-industry result.
- The supply chain sits next door - almost 87% of supplies come from vendors within each plant’s cluster, which shortens lead times, cuts freight costs, and reduces the carbon footprint.
- Vendors are trained, not just audited - 174 Tier-I supplier groups practice TPM, 71 have reached the Excellence level, and the programme has been pushed down to 295 Tier-II vendors, so quality and cost discipline cascade through the entire chain.
- The Brazil plant is a blueprint for local assembly abroad - the Manaus facility started with frame welding and painting, expanded to 50,000 units of annual capacity, and sold nearly 32,000 motorcycles in calendar 2025, proving the model can be replicated in other large markets.
Group structure and partners
A flagship company with wholly owned R&D, finance and international subsidiaries, a controlling stake in KTM AG, and non-equity alliances with Triumph and Yulu - the structure is designed to keep technology in-house while sharing distribution risk.
- KTM is now a consolidated subsidiary - Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV, a Dutch subsidiary, holds 100% of the entity that controls roughly three-quarters of KTM AG, following a debt-funded restructuring in 2025 that included an €800 million funding package and a call option to buy out the founding family’s stake.
- The turnaround is already visible - KTM AG reported €1,009 million in revenue and €590 million in net profit for calendar 2025, reduced its workforce by roughly 1,500 people, cut inventories by over 100,000 units, and refinanced its debt with a €550 million banking consortium facility at favourable terms.
- R&D is ring-fenced in a separate subsidiary - Bajaj Auto Technology Ltd. (formerly Chetak Technology Ltd.) has a paid-up capital of ₹470 crore and focuses solely on EV systems, while two overseas engineering centres in Thailand and Barcelona provide design capability close to key markets.
- Triumph is a partnership without equity - the 120-year-old British brand co-develops motorcycles with Bajaj, which are manufactured at Chakan and exported to 57 countries; the arrangement gives Bajaj access to a global premium brand without the capital commitment of an acquisition.
- Yulu is the shared-mobility bet - Bajaj has invested ₹165 crore in India’s largest shared electric-mobility player and supplied nearly 30,000 low-speed electric two-wheelers to its fleet, which now operates across ten cities and turned EBITDA-profitable in FY26.