Pune, Oct 28 (PTI) Amid the rising number of startups in the electric mobility space, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj on Thursday said the ability to adapt is the sign of a champion in the auto industry even as he acknowledged that the marketplace is changing.

Seeking to send out a strong message, Bajaj, known for expressing his views frankly, stressed that "good Indian two-wheeler companies are not really as lightweight as maybe some startups would like to think".

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His strong comments came after Bajaj Auto, the 75-year-old legacy company, launched an all-new Pulsar 250 bike in two variants.

"If we launch a motorcycle in October, you will get it in November. It is not that if we launch in 2021 you will have to wait till 2022. That is the startup way. That is not the legacy way," Bajaj said.

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To a question on the emergence of startups in the electric mobility space and competition for established players, he quoted Charles Darwin to say that it is not the most intelligent or the strongest of the species that survive but the ones which are most adaptive to change.

Noting that as competition has come, the marketplace is changing, the Bajaj Auto MD said the sign of a champion in the auto industry "is that you are able to adapt not one year, two years, three years but this is a 75-year-old company and it has adapted over and over again".

Further, he pointed out that sometimes it is because of the shift from scooters to motorcycles, sometimes it is new regulations, or competition or maybe cost or it may be electric disruption.

Pointing out that good Indian two-wheeler companies are not really as lightweight as maybe some startups would like to think, Bajaj wondered, "who are you going to bet on? Are you going to bet on the legacy companies as you call us or the startups?"

"I would bet on BET which stands for Bajaj Enfield and TVS. They are champions and they have demonstrated it with a track record," Bajaj said.

There is a saying on the breakfast of the champions. Champions eat OATS for breakfast, he said, adding, "OATS stands for Ola, Ather, Tork and Smart E".

In the 150-cc above sports motorcycle category, Enfield, Bajaj and TVS have a 70-80 per cent share. "We are not lightweight.," Bajaj asserted.

Referring to startups, he said their business model is a cash burn model. "Ours is a cash flow model. We have to make sure we make money when we make a motorcycle."

"Of course, we operate very differently. There are startups that we respect. There is Ather that we enormously respect because they have demonstrated capability," he said.

"The biggest one is Ola. We have to still see them produce and sell something. I am not being sarcastic. Simply stating a fact," Bajaj said.

Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director of Bajaj Auto, said that two decades ago, the company launched the first Pulsar and changed motorcycling in India forever. Since then, there has been a succession of Pulsars, which have set new benchmarks in India and globally making Pulsar one of the most loved motorcycling brands across 50 countries.

"Today, Pulsar yet again ups the benchmark with the launch of two new Pulsar 250s. We are confident that these two superbly crafted machines will exhilarate the Pulsarmaniacs and attract more riders to the Pulsar brand and the quarter-litre class of biking," he said.

The all-new Pulsar 250 in two variants, R250 and N250 are priced at Rs 1.40 lakh and Rs1.38 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)