Bajaj scooters: A new gamble

When Bajaj, the classic scooter brand, wanted to rev itself up in the motorcycles market-the "future" in Rajiv Bajaj's 1998 take-analysts were sceptical. Confounding them took some time. But once its hot bikes, such as the Pulsar, hit the tar, Bajaj vroomed forth. Today, mobikes account for 70 per cent of its turnover.

Why then, should Bajaj return to scooters? One reason is that it cannot claw deeper into mobike leader Hero Honda's marketshare. The other is the success of Honda Activa, which has shown that there is a market out there for modern scooters. Last but not least, Bajaj's cash-rich balance sheet means it can afford to put money where its hunch is. It maintains an R&D spend of about Rs 100 crore.

''It is time to develop scooters that will redefine the category,'' says R.L. Ravichandran, Vice President (Marketing and Business Development), Bajaj Auto: ''We want to put the romance back in scooters.'' A crack team is working on an all-new scooter platform that would yield a number of four-stroke models, some with automatic transmission and others with variomatic (two gears and four). The prime concern is body styling (the services of Tokyo Research & Development, which helped sculpt Pulsar and Saffire, might be used). The new purrers will be displayed at the 2004 Auto Expo, and hit the market soon after.

-Suveen K. Sinha

HOSPITALITY
Signs Of Life
After a long season of empty hotel rooms, the hospitality sector is warming up again. A sign of things to come?

Hotel occupancy: Good times are here

It's been a long hard winter, and now the sun seems to be out again. Hotel-room tariffs are rising. This is so across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, as October and November data indicates. The 337-room Mumbai Oberoi registered India's highest average room rent (ARR) in this period, at Rs 7,200-7,300. It is followed by the 265-room Imperial in Delhi (Rs 6,000-6,200) and the 582-room Taj in Mumbai (Rs 5,500-6,500).

Says Rattan Keswani, General Manager, The Oberoi Group: ''The buoyancy is back, elections have gone well and travel advisories removed, and we are fairly optimistic that the year will end well.'' Delhi's Imperial, meanwhile, has gained from its recent repositioning, on the business platform, and a spurt in city demand. According to Rishi Kapoor, Director (Strategic Planning), The Imperial, Delhi: "October-November occupancy has been 75 per cent,'' up from last year's 60s. The hotel's ARR is up 30 per cent.

Mumbai's Taj is doing well, as always. But the new competitor on the scene is the city's Royal Lé Meridien, which, located near the airport, claims an occupancy of 90 per cent now.

-Moinak Mitra

AUTOMOTIVE
Just Another Box
Telco's new family car is all set to give its rivals a run for their money.

Tata Indigo: Doesn't have the hype Indica enjoyed

Telco's sedan, the Indigo, looks like an Indica with an add-on box. So, will it worry its rival sedan marketers? Depends on the pricing. As BT went to press, there were no firm figures, though Chairman Ratan Tata had hinted of a range of Rs 4-7 lakh. Anything within reach of hatchback owners could entice upgrades; a sedan is what a 'family car' is supposed to be.

Indigo boasts of five variants, two of them powered by a 1,405-cc, 62-bhp diesel engine. A diesel base model for around Rs 4.5 lakh- Maruti Esteem's diesel variant is for Rs 5.4 lakh-could repeat Indica's success. Maruti could respond by cutting diesel prices, while Hyundai Accent and Ford Ikon are geared for a 'value' fight. ''We won't let Indigo get away easily,'' says a rival spokesperson, aware that Indigo's petrol variants can't be ignored either. Indigo's sales target: 1,200 units a month. That would spell break even. The project took just Rs 350 crore, rather less than Indica's Rs 1,700 crore.

Suveen K. Sinha

RETAIL
Reliance's Qwiky
Reliance with a coffee shop presence? It makes sense, if you think about the brand's telecom need for retail coverage.

Coffee play: What will it be? Coffee, tea, or telecom?

It's not official yet. But the whiff is too strong to let pass. Reliance Infocomm is picking up a stake in the Chennai-based Qwiky's chain of coffee bars. Some coffee watchers would respond with a knowing 'aha'. Others would be zapped.

For the latter's benefit, here's the rationale: Reliance Infocomm needs retail presence to kick off its WLL telecom strategy, and what better than a chain of stores, Webworld, to get customers warmed up to its ideas over cups of coffee?

Sashi Chimala of Quiky's refuses to comment on any equity deal, preferring to voice his own plan to go from 22 to 62 coffee bars across India over the next 12 months. The strategy? Offering in-store coffee bars to retailers. ''All I can say at this stage,'' he says, ''is that we are excited by being the first company in India to offer BPO kind of services in the food and beverages sector.''

Equally tightlipped, is Vrinda Walvalkar, spokesperson for Reliance Infocomm. But Naresh Malhotra, Director of Café Coffee Day, a rival chain, thinks that selling coffee as a secondary objective is bad for coffee. Chimala disagrees, citing the value of BPO services.

Venkatesha Babu