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Bajaj Auto reported a 189.24 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 475.14 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.The company had a net profit of Rs 164.27 crore in the correponding quarter a year ago. Total income rose to Rs 3,330.68 crore for the third quarter ended December, as against Rs 2,140.98 crore in the same period previous fiscal, Bajaj Auto said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). For the nine month ended December 31, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 1,171.46 crore, a jump of over 123 per cent from Rs 524.29 crore in the same period previous year.

Bajaj Auto has just had its best quarter ever in its history with net profit up 118 per cent to Rs 402.83 crore from Rs 184.91 crore in the same period last year. The total income was up 15 per cent to Rs 2,887.51 crore from Rs 2,519.18 crore in the second-quarter ended September 30. The operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation margin were the highest ever thus far at 22 per cent against 13.6 per cent last year and surpassing the previous record of 19.5 per cent in the preceding quarter. Exports during the period were again the best ever in a quarter with 2,24,334 vehicles translating into revenue of Rs 799 crore. In contrast, the same period of last fiscal had seen 2,06,930 vehicles exported yielding Rs 714 crore. Bajaj expects to top its annual target of 8 lakh units set for this fiscal.

Bajaj Auto, the country's second largest two-wheeler maker, today reported a 37 per cent decline in motorcycle sales during November at 131,681 units against 209,876 units last year.Total two wheeler sales also saw a similar drop of 37 per cent at 132,421 units against 211,600 units in the corresponding month last year. Two-wheeler sales were down sharply, reflecting both an accelerated slowdown in demand and also the immediate correction in dealer inventories, the latter action shall continue into December 2008, the company said. Bajaj intends to counter this trend by an intense new product initiative that will see the launch of a new motorcycle each month for the next six months beginning from January 2009, it added. In the meantime, Bajaj Auto Finance has introduced a retail finance scheme with low interest rates of 7.99 per cent across almost 300 Bajaj dealers all over the country to revive sales in the short term, it said. Three-wheeler sales were, however, up 13 per cent at 2...

Bajaj Auto Ltd has recorded a 9 per cent increase in turnover and a 4 per cent drop in net profit for the first quarter of 2008-09 when compared with the same period last year. The company’s vehicles sales went up by 8 per cent this quarter over the corresponding period last year, with motorcycles sales increasing by 13 per cent and exports going up by 33 per cent. According to the company, rising interest rates and lack of finance options continue to restrain industry growth. In the 125-cc plus category, Bajaj Auto witnessed a 21 per cent growth in sales. Exports now constitute 31 per cent of motorcycle sales, with exports of motorcycles registering a 49 per cent growth in the quarter under review. The company launched the new Bajaj Discover DTS-i this month, which will be followed by four new launches in the 125-cc plus category during the year.Market conditions Bajaj Auto, which makes two- and three-wheelers, said lacklustre market conditions were reflected in the company’s commerci...

Bajaj profit slides on lower sales; company won’t chase volumes (Live mint.com 31th Jan 2008)India’s second largest seller of two-wheelers, Bajaj Auto Ltd, had a third quarter profit decline of 16.6% from the year-ago period as it sold fewer bikes because customers deferred purchases as borrowing-to-buy became expensive. The bike maker also incurred a one-time charge of Rs51 crore because it offered a voluntary retirement payout to workers at one of the units that wasn’t productive. The Pune-based company made a profit of only Rs273.8 crore in the three months ended 31 December, compared with Rs328.3 crore in the year-ago period. Sales at Bajaj Auto dropped 2.3%, to Rs2,633.3 crore, in the quarter—lower than Rs2,696 crore last year. The results were worse than a Mint poll of five analysts, who estimated net profit at Rs354.66 crore and revenues at Rs2,653.88 crore. More

Tata Motors launches Sumo Grande, new Indigo (The Hindu Business Line 10th Jan 2008)In addition to the much-talked about one-lakh car, Tata Motors has drawn up an aggressive new vehicle launch calendar for the current year. Even as it primes itself for the roll-out of its ultra low cost super mini, the company will be launching a range of new vehicles, including a compact version of its Indigo sedan later this month, an upgraded version of its sports utility vehicle Sumo next month and the next generation of the Indica hatchback in the second half of this year. More Maruti unveils three concept cars (The Hindu Business Line 10th Jan 2008) Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) unveiled three concept cars, the A-Star, the Splash and the D-segment Kizashi at the 9th Auto Expo Delhi 2008 on Wednesday, announcing its intent to be present in every segment of the global car market. However, it was the designer A-Star that got the top billing pretty much on account of its bold styling. More Bajaj may...

M&M pulls out of joint venture with Renault, Nissan (The Hindu Business Line 9th Jan 2008)It is now official. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will go its separate way and what was to be a three-way joint venture involving Renault and Nissan for car production on the outskirts of Chennai has become just a Franco-Japanese venture involving Renault and Nissan. In a statement issued to the press in Mumbai today, M&M said that it is deferring its investment in the car plant, capable of producing up to 400,000 cars annually, that was to have come up in Oragadam, a village just off Chennai. The announcement thus effectively ends speculation, rife for some time now, that M&M is pulling out of the project. More Ashok Leyland to unveil concept bus at Auto (The Hindu Business Line 9th Jan 2008)Ashok Leyland will be unveiling a concept intra-city bus at the Auto Expo. Christened iBUS, it was developed in 10 months by a Cross Functional Team (CFT) of 25 young engineers of the company....