"You Just Can't Beat a Bajaj". Read why …..

(Excerpt from discussions initiated by Deep Banerjee, Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit.com in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)

Deep Banerjee wrote:
Once upon a time in India there was Bajaj Scooters which had a gala time because of the licensing raj and the proximity of its head honcho with the top political bosses in New Delhi between the 1960s to mid 1980s. However, the entire category of scooters from the Bajaj stable comprising of Bajaj Chetak, Bajaj Super and Priya scooters have been laid to rest years ago.
The erstwhile head of Bajaj Auto, seen often in his crispy outfit (who has left the reins of the co. to his son) did nothing to stop the black-marketing of scooters by his own dealers. In 1972, a Vespa150 scooter (then a product of Bajaj Auto) priced at Rs.3600 was openly sold by the authorised dealer at Rs.5500 and that too after a waiting period of 7 - 10 years.
I still remember the sons of our family priest near Asansol taking up black-marketing of Bajaj scooters as full time profession. As a child in middle school in the early 1970s, I would hear them with awe, their tale of booking 20 odd scooters @ Rs.500 each, a hell of a lot of money those days.
There was a time when Bajaj Scooters were sold with no tyres or tubes encircling the spare wheel at the back inspite of the customer having paid the full price. It was a case of take it or leave it.
In 1983-84, he scuttled the success of a truly good product LML Vespa100 by openly advertising and lobbying that unlike a Bajaj150 scooter, a Vespa100 can't carry 3 or more persons up a steep road. Were scooters ever meant to carry more than 2 persons?
Vespa PL170 failed because of the same negative publicity. I wonder if the Advertising Standards Council of India existed then.
Innumerable pillion riders of Bajaj150 scooters have had fatal falls and have got run over by other vehicles after the metal bracket supporting the spare wheel which also used to double up as a back rest for pillion riders snapped abruptly. Nobody dared to report or challenge a Bajaj then.
If it were today, the great businessman of yesteryears would have tasted the true wrath of customers.
Wasn't their tagline something like, 'You just can't beat a Bajaj'!!

Rahul Sinha wrote:
Well written, Deep. Another perspective though - Bajaj made the common man aspiration go beyond the ATLAS cycle. And Bajaj served the common customer well. The waiting period of 7-10 years crashed to a few months for those who shelled out the Rs.1200 premium (I remember this for Chetak, the most popular model). Wasn't this the market opportunity then? Either you took it or someone else will. It is despicable as per our current standards but a done thing those days.

Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep good food for thought. Its all about monopoly. It’s similar to the times when Doordarshan was in existence. There would not be much entertainment and almost half the matter was censored. Post the satellite TVs coming in, Doordarshan soon changed its entire system to be around 24hrs 7 days a week. I remember the time when Pears Soap commercial was censored by Doordarshan as a kid was taking bath, wonder today what they have to say.
Similarly, Bajaj was also the [shall I say] victim of monopoly.