Bajaj Auto has been in the automobile industry for quite a long time now. What changed fortunes for Bajaj was the launch of Pulsar and then Discover. While Pulsar is still experiencing success, Discover’s popularity went down drastically after some years. Why did this happen? Well, we are trying to put light on some of the reasons why Discover stopped attracting new customers in Indian Automobile market.
Discontinuing older models silently
Bajaj launched way too many Discovers; and in order to make the new model popular, they kept discontinuing older models silently. This made customers lose faith in the brand while existing owners became angry over having bought a model which was discontinued abruptly. Also, new positioning under the same Discover label gave mixed signals and left buyers confused.
Recently Rajiv Bajaj accepted this in an interview when he said
“The launch of the Discover 100 has been one of the “biggest blunders of my career,” Bajaj remarked at an event in Mumbai recently. Bajaj attributes the undoing of the brand to a “flawed positioning decision taken nine years ago. It was a strategic marketing mistake to dilute the positioning of the brand from a fun commuter to a mileage commuter”
Confusing customers
To understand better you can have a look at the Timeline below:
2004
– Bajaj launched the Discover with a 125cc engine.
2005
– Bajaj launched the Discover with a 112cc engine, discontinuing the Discover 125.
2006
– Bajaj pulled out from the 100cc segment, stating it wasn’t as profitable as higher capacity bikes. It also marketed its 125cc bikes with the mileage of a 100cc and performance of a 125. At this time, Bajaj was the number two in the 100cc segment.
2007
– Bajaj launched the Discover with a 135cc engine.
2009
– Bajaj launched the Discover 100 DTS-Si, coming back to the 100cc segment after having failed to convince consumers about buying a higher cc bike with similar efficiency. The 112cc Discover was discontinued.
2010
– Bajaj introduces Discover 150, discontinuing the Discover 135.
2011
– Bajaj re-launched the Discover 125. It also updated the Discover 100 and discontinued the Discover 125.
2012
– Bajaj launched the Discover 100 4G and next generation Discover in the form of the Discover 125 ST replacing the old model.
2013
– Bajaj launched the Discover 100T. It also introduced the Discover 125T and 100M.
2014
– Bajaj discontinued the Discover 125 ST, Discover 125T and Discover 100T, it launched the Discover 125 M.
2014
– Bajaj launched the Discover 150S and 150F, bringing back the Discover 150.
2015
– The Discover 100 will be discontinued. A new 125cc Discover is set to be launched.
Confused?? This is what happened to customers also.
Expanding without planning
Bajaj should have opted a proper planning and marketing strategy to promote every launch. But they kept trying new things to keep a hold which made people insecure about the brand.
Competitors were keen to target the confused and insecure customers so they launched bikes with simple strategies focussing on the mileage. Hero Splendor is a prime example of this.
If you have some more points that you believe made Discover lose its popularity, do share them with us in the comment section.
