Bajaj Auto has hiked the two-wheeler prices in Nigeria due to the rising costs. The manufacturer has increased the prices of two-wheelers and three-wheelers by 4-5 per cent there.
According to reports, the company had to increase these prices to offset the impact of rising costs in Nigeria. The economic conditions in Africa have changed eventually affecting the prices of vehicles in the export market. This price hike will help ease the pressure off both, the company and its Nigerian distributor.
Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, said, "One part is to pass some of the price increase to customers and I think all major players have already done that to a large degree. In the past week we have already passed on up to 4-5 per cent in terms of retail price change. There is no doubt that Nigeria is our biggest export market. In recent months we have actually been doing close to 50,000 motorcycles a month and 5,000 three-wheelers. Obviously this is an important issue for us and as you can imagine we have been tracking it. So far from what we understand the situation is pretty much under control."
Nigeria, which alone accounts for 35 per cent of the company's export volumes, is the biggest overseas market for Bajaj Auto followed by Columbia and Bangladesh. The company had a 44 per cent market share in FY14 and sold more than five lakh two-wheelers in that country. At present, the manufacturer exports more than 50 per cent of the bikes they make across three manufacturing facilities and are keen to up their share in the global market. They will keep on adding new models to the export line-up and venture into new markets.
Source: ET
