Bajaj Auto

While Hero disappointed, Bajaj Auto did better and reported Q2Fy13 numbers which beat most market expectations. Like Hero, the company too had a challenging environment with the industry moving from a CAGR growth of 15% over last four years to a decline of 9% in current Q2.  Total number of vehicles sold during the quarter, YoY fell 10% and its net sales dropped 3.5% at Rs.4817 crore.  Better cost management, other income of Rs.167 crore and a lower interest outgo helped shore up the bottomline, which at Rs. 741 crore, was up 2%. But the big disappointment was that its margins, which were the best in the industry at 20.1% in Q2Fy12, came in at 19.7%, but better than 19.4% in Q1Fy13. What helped were the premium range of high-end bikes - Pulsar 200NS, KTM Duke 200 and Pulsar 135LS.

Exports was a major driver last fiscal but right now, it too seems to have taken a hit. YoY, exports for the quarter was down 4% but this probably can be blamed entirely on its Sri Lanka  where overall monthly sales have almost halved. Commercial vehicles sales were down 12%. In terms of market share, in motorcyles, it stood at 33%. This company also, like Hero Moto hopes to bounce back on the back of festive demand.  Thus though sales, like Hero dropped, better cost management and high-end bikes saved the day.