Riding on Dominar 400, Bajaj Auto overtakes Royal Enfield in 350-500cc segment

The Dominar 400 has started to make ripples in the 350cc motorcycle segment which is the domain of Royal Enfield.

Royal Enfield vs Bajaj Auto — Royal Enfield and Bajaj Auto motorcyclesPR handout

Barely after three months of its launch, the Dominar 400 has started to do magic to Bajaj Auto's sales list. Driven by the demand for the Dominar 400, Bajaj Auto has overtaken Royal Enfield in 350cc to 500cc motorcycle segment in February.

According to the data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Bajaj Auto sold around 3,082 units of its bikes in the segment last month, significantly ahead of Royal Enfield's 2,628 unit sales.

Also read: Royal Enfield is nonchalant about arrival of Bajaj Dominar 400 in 350cc segment

"We have already overtaken Royal Enfield in the segment. They used to sell an average of 5,000 units a month until a few months ago," reports Business Standard, quoting a Bajaj official. The report claimed that two of every 10 Dominars was sold to customers who owned an Enfield. "Some have sold it to buy Dominar and some have bought it as their second bike," the report quoted the official.

SIAM data also reveals Royal Enfield having a lion's share in the 250-350cc midsize motorcycle segment and has registered a growth of 32.6 percent to sell 544,637 units between April and February in the current fiscal. The major products - Classic 350, Bullet 350, Thunderbird 350 are all powered by 346cc engines. Royal Enfield holds nearly 95 percent of the 350cc motorcycle market.

Interestingly, the February sales number are out within days after Siddhartha Lal, managing director and chief executive officer of Eicher Motors (parent company of Royal Enfield) commented on Dominar 400's arrival, "When one succeeds in a segment, others try to enter and take a bite. Of course, there will be competition, but we are not worried."

Bajaj Auto sold 3,000 Dominars in January and it plans to gradually take it up to the stated monthly target of 10,000 units. With Bajaj Auto's plan to launch more motorcycle models under Dominar brand, it is clear that the 350cc segment is going to witness a new battle between these two Indian bike makers.