Bajaj has confirmed it has no plans to discontinue any variants of the Pulsar. The current 150, 180 and 220 are here to stay while new Pulsars will make new sub-segments. The Pulsar 135 will be focussed around exports.
What started as twins in 2001 now comprises of 7 models and next year, the Pulsar range will have 11 variants! Yes, that’s right. Bajaj Auto is on a Pulsar onslaught, its flagship brand and also the leader in its category. There is one more Pulsar due for launch this year, the 150 NS and early next year, two more will come, the RS 400 and CS 400. That will mean that by March 2016, you can buy 11 different variants of the Pulsar in India – 135 LS, 150, 150 NS, 150 AS, 180, 200 NS, 200 AS, RS 200, 220F, RS 400, CS 400.
That is indeed a lot of Pulsars and a lot of confusion too. It’s also a similar strategy which was done on the Discover, too many models in too small a price point. But what Bajaj does is, let’s the customers decide which models should stay on sale. Because the ones which don’t perform well are finally axed, like in the case of the Discovers, the 125 ST, 125 T, 100 T and 100 4G were all pulled off the market, albeit silently. Same will be the case with the Pulsars, the ones which don’t perform as expected, will be discontinued.
But the Pulsar range will grow even further. There could be models like the 400 AS, 400 NS, RS 150 (which we think is a good idea) and of course higher capacity models in the 500-800cc displacement space (because Bajaj is developing twin-cylinder engines with KTM for the Duke/RC 590 and 790 [the 690 replacement]). What we think is, Bajaj should let go off the first generation Pulsar and discontinue the current 150, 180 and 220. The 135 LS anyways isn’t sold much in India so it’s as good as non-existent. The 200 NS should also be axed, finally leaving the lineup as follows – 150 NS, 150 AS, 200 AS (maybe keep the visor optional), RS 200, RS 400 and CS 400. Doesn’t that make more sense?
