Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome to Q2 FY 2026 results conference call of Bajaj Auto Ltd. My name is Nirav. I'll be your coordinator. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there'll be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the initial remarks from the management. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Anand Newar, Head Investor Relations from Bajaj Auto Ltd. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Nirav. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the call today. Welcome to Bajaj Auto's Q2 FY 2026 earnings conference call. On today's call, we have with us Mr. Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, and Mr. Dinesh Thapar, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin our call with the opening remarks from Rakesh on the business and operational performance for the quarter, followed by Dinesh, who will take you through the financial highlights. We will then open the forum for Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Thanks, Anand. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Q1 earnings call, and thank you very much for joining us. I am delighted to say that the Q2 performance has built on the strong note on which we commenced Q1 FY 2026, and it has recorded several all-time highs. We closed the quarter, as you know, with a top line of almost INR 15,000 crore, growing at 14%, an all-time high. EBITDA crossed INR 3,000 crore, another all-time high, with the EBITDA percentage of 20.5%. PAT came in close to INR 2,005 crore, INR 500 crore, yet another all-time high. Moreover, all business units were firing and well into October to deliver these outcomes. Predictably, the GST rate cut, combined with the festive sentiment, turbocharged the industry, and all BUs made full use of it to deliver an outstanding retail performance during the festive as well as October.
Let me now get into the business unit-level performance, beginning with exports. The BU grew volumes by 24% in Q2, with exports of over 550,000 units. This delivered the highest-ever quarterly revenue from exports. The top 30 overseas markets, collectively accounting for 70% of emerging markets, grew about 14% in this quarter, and our sales grew at 1.5 x that of the industry, thereby signaling an increase of market share in these key markets. LATAM delivered its highest-ever quarterly performance, powered by Colombia and Mexico. Sales in Bajaj Brazil crossed the 8,000 mark in Q2, with expanded production capacities, with a higher level of localization, including welding and painting coming into play. October retails in Brazil have already crossed the 3,000-unit mark. The subsidiaries now delivering a healthy bottom-line performance. Both Asia and Africa delivered double-digit growth with standout performances in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and East Africa.
Nigeria has held steady in retail, though the recovery over there has still got some runway left, but it's reflecting some kind of equilibrium, which is very welcome as the festive season commences there in November, December. The CV segment in exports delivered a growth of 67% this quarter, result of intense development efforts of the past few quarters. KTM Austria continued to increase sales quarter on quarter by 10% in Q2, and we exported almost 20,000 units to KTM in this quarter. This recovery also augurs well for future exports to KTM of products made in India and sold through the KTM network under the KTM brand. In October, the Exports business breached the 200,000 mark after almost 40 months. A key point over here is that previously, when we were talking 200,000, it used to have a contribution of 50,000-60,000 units of sales to Nigeria.
Right now, it has only 25,000. So you can understand the kind of swing which has been made in performance in all non-Nigeria markets. We expect exports to continue to maintain the growth tempo in the coming months. Now to domestic motorcycles. The domestic motorcycle industry experienced a rollercoaster performance. The industry was sluggish, as you know, with the April-August period coming in at a small decline of 1%. Post the GST announcement, expectedly, the industry nosedived in end August and right up to Navratri when the new rates got implemented. Suppressed demand, festive cheer, and GST rate cuts all combined to deliver a historic festive 40 days, which has restored growth to the industry. The Motorcycle business unit delivered an all-time high retail performance in this period, comparing equivalent festive periods in the past, both in volume and revenue terms.
In fact, the Pulsar portfolio was at an all-time peak performance too. The market share erosion, which we were experiencing over the last few quarters, had got erased by the end of Q2, and October saw the beginning of market share gain in the strategic 125cc+ segment, and it was in particular driven by the 150cc+ sports segment. In each segment, we found that the top-end variants performed extremely well, reflecting that the customer with relatively strong wallets had aggressively entered the buying cycle and were happy to upgrade. Hence, our N-series and NS-series of Pulsar motorcycles handsomely beat segment growth rates. Such a positive trading environment is very helpful for the mission of acquiring market share.
An engaging thematic "Duniya Dekhti Hai, Tu Dikha" campaign for the Pulsar brand, introduction of new variants in the sports range, early on-the-ground tactical support, and excellent retail finance operations matching the surge in festive retails combined to deliver this record performance. Though November, and particularly December, will be smaller months, we think that the industry should improve its growth rates by 6-8 percentage points in the medium term and offer us very good opportunities to attract customers to our Pulsar portfolio, which is being further strengthened by the introduction of new variants in the next two to three months. We will aim to outpace the industry growth in the 125 cc+ segment and continue the path of acquiring market share, which got commenced in the period of September-October.
Now coming to commercial vehicles, the three-wheeler BU, here too, the industry witnessed the down and up as in the motorcycle industry, but with softer peaks and troughs. The industry outcome was that ICE moved from year-to-date decline to single-digit growth in October. E-autos continued to grow, though at a slightly lower rate at 50%++, while e-rick declined in the quarter due to upgrading to e-auto and new RTO restrictions being enforced in many key cities in the north. We expect the same pattern to continue with the GST rate cut, lifting the ICE or auto growth by about 5 percentage points. Against this backdrop, our business continues to perform strongly, delivering on all-time record quarter of 1,445,000 units and also in revenue terms. In ICE, high levels of 75% market share were maintained.
In the EV segment, though, we lost ground due to supply chain constraints in terms of availability of e-components and the manufacturing capacity of the highly successful widebody 7012 variant, resulting in about a 15% shortfall from plan. As it is with the surge in exports, manufacturing is operating at peak capacity in three-wheelers, and we are now, therefore, taking steps to build three-wheeler capacity in the next few months, particularly in the e-auto e-vehicle segments. We expect e-auto performance to get unlocked due to the removal of supply constraints, and we intend to capture a higher share of the improving ICE auto market, maintaining the growth tempo and sales of certainly over 100,000 units per quarter. As I've said before, the mobility needs of middle India are expanding furiously, and we expect the three-wheeler category to continue to grow and for us to outpace the industry.
We already have the widest portfolio, which will be further expanded, allowing us to segment and target different use cases. Our strategy is to have a fit-for-purpose portfolio, which will be the widest in the business. The recently launched e-rickshaw will further strengthen our portfolio and enable us to capture a share of this large profit and revenue pool. We have sold about 500 units of Riki, our e-rick, in eight cities and are in the phase of observing acceptance. Early feedback from customers is very positive, and it allows us to formulate our go-to-market plan. We intend to scale e-rick in a few months from now. On electric two-wheelers, this is Chetak. The industry continues to average close to 100,000 units per month, despite the constraints faced by most OEs on account of HRE-based magnet availability.
We, in particular, I think, suffered the most given the high growth trajectory of Chetak after the launch of the highly successful 35 series. Supply was following demand, and this was further interrupted by supply chain constraints, resulting in an almost 50% shortfall to our plan. However, recovery in the supply chain is done and actually ahead of the time we had anticipated for it. We have shifted to the more secure LRE-based components as well as alternate geographic sources, restoring supplies by end September and fully in October, though the rebuilding of stocks in the channel is still a work in process. Even so, I'm delighted that Chetak immediately regained the number one position in terms of [Bajaj] registrations in October.
We will aim to maintain the leadership position here on the launch of a new, absolutely new model by early next year, combined with the growing Chetak network, which now stands at 390 exclusive stores and 4,000 points of sale in 800 cities, should further strengthen our claims to leadership. A quick comment on our overall EV portfolio comprising three-wheelers, Chetak, and Yulu. These collectively delivered almost 20% of domestic revenue, but more importantly, a double-digit EBITDA percentage in Q2. Coming to Probiking, our premium motorcycle BU comprising KTM and Triumph brands. Together, the two brands had an absolutely outstanding quarter, selling over 30,000 units, registering a 30% growth. This is, again, an all-time high and was driven by the new KTM models and steady but growing performance of the Triumph models.
With the launch of the much-anticipated Duke 160, we now take aim at the large and lucrative 150cc super premium segment. The combination of KTM Adventure bikes and Triumph Scramblers is now challenging leadership in the growing and lucrative adventure segment. The GST rate cuts found some of the KTM and all of the Triumph models on the wrong side of the 350cc divide. However, we maintained prices, absorbing the GST increase, and to some extent, the customers rewarded us with their support during the festival. As mentioned earlier, both brands benefited a lot from the customers' desire to upgrade to aspirational purchase triggered by the GST cuts. However, we are also working along with our partners, KTM and Triumph, on reshaping our portfolio to take advantage of the lower GST rates, and these products will be launched in due course. Finally, a couple of other updates.
DACL, our 100% subsidiary, had another excellent quarter. Over 200,000 customers were added in Q2, with AUM crossing INR 14,000 crore and penetration touching 40% for the Bajaj business. Due to [PAT], it was above plan, coming in at over INR 132 crore. We continue to drive the business performance and franchise with dealers and customers through the approach of building digital capabilities as well as robust operational efficiencies. Secondly, the spare business delivered an all-time high performance of INR 1,800 crore, growing at 21%, making a solid contribution to the bottom line. Looking ahead, our key focus areas remain unchanged. Competitive growth in the strategically important 125cc+ segment. Hopefully, we will be able to harness some of the upgrading sentiment unleashed by the GST rate cuts. Secondly, sustained export momentum with a 15%-20% growth with emphasis on superior positions in better markets.
Thirdly, with the unlocking of the supply chain constraints, regain the momentum in both the two-wheeler and the three-wheeler EV segments. Fourthly, aggressively grow the KTM and Triumph business to take advantage of the positive sentiment again unleashed by the GST rate cuts through product activation and network. Drive profitability and growth in the most optimal way through robust operations. Finally, continue to establish and build capability in DACL to deliver a class-leading performance. With that, let me now hand it over to Dinesh for an update on the financial performance.
Thank you, Rakesh. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call this evening. Season's greetings, and with Diwali having gone by, I hope you've had a good festive season because for us at the business, we clearly have had a good one.
We are pleased to report yet another record-breaking quarter, one which was marked by several highest ever, as you would have seen from our press release. We had the highest ever revenue, EBITDA, domestic revenue, exports revenue, electric revenue, premium motorcycles portfolio revenue, spares revenue, and profit after tax, apart from new landmarks across the businesses that you have just heard from, Rakesh. Quite clearly, it was a quarter of milestones on multiple fronts. Let me now touch upon parts of the operating context on currency and commodities. Quarter two saw a weakening of the rupee and resultant tailwind for our exports realization and margins. Dollar realization stood at INR 87.1 compared to INR 85.6 in the previous quarter and INR 83.8 in the same period last year. On the commodity front, in the previous quarter, I had mentioned that we were beginning to see some cost pressures across key commodities.
The quarter finally ended with a net cost inflation impact of about 40 basis points after adjusting for the marginal price increase that we had taken. This was primarily driven by a step up on steel, sharp inflation on the noble metals portfolio, particularly rhodium and platinum, along with increases in copper and rubber. Coming to the financial results, quarterly revenue from operations was at a tad under INR 15,000 crore, a milestone number, as you would have imagined, and clearly a breakout from our previous highest, which was slightly over INR 13,000 crore, registering a 14% robust growth. Let's say about half of this growth came from pristine volume growth and the balance half from a richer mix and higher realization from FX and pricing.
Sales mix, as you would have figured out, was aided by the strong performance of the exports portfolio, with a particular call out of the exceptional growth of nearly 70% in commercial vehicles and a step up in the exports to the KTM world. On domestic, it was the acceleration of premium motorcycles and steady step up on electric three-wheelers that provided a boost to mix. Spares, continuing a strong momentum, crossed almost INR 1,800 crore, surpassing the record levels of the previous quarter.
What is particularly noteworthy from the performance of this quarter is that we have delivered our best-ever quarterly revenue on the back of a strong performance across businesses, which more than made up for the disruption of supplies given the rare earth magnet issue that impacted the momentum of our electric business, which, as you would be aware, was the fastest growing part of our business for quite some time right now. The point I would like to emphasize is that this bears testimony yet again to the resilience and adaptability of our business model, which is capable of delivering strong financial performance despite having to weather some storms on some fronts. Domestic revenue was at a new record led by the very strong performance, notably on premium bikes and commercial vehicles. You have just heard from Rakesh that we have had a great festive season.
In fact, it's our biggest ever on each of our domestic businesses, which carried into October as well. Of course, this was partly voided by the GST rate rationalization. We passed on the benefit of the rate reduction on motorcycles under 350cc, on commercial vehicles, and on spare parts, on all those parts of the portfolio where it moved from 28% to 18% through reduced pricing to customers. On 350cc+, where the rate moved from 31%, essentially 28% GST and 3% SAS, to 40%, we either held pricing or lowered our pricing across models compared to pre-GST levels, therefore absorbing the impact of the rate change to keep this part of the business competitive and without hurting affordability for customers.
Given the sizable GST impact on these models, it is costing us some bit, as you would make out, in the short term till we take some actions to structurally address the disparity that has now been created between a 350cc and a greater-than-350cc motorcycle. It is a commitment that we are walking the talk on to build the business at the top end across KTM, Triumph, Dominar, and NS400 Pulsar. Exports revenue reported double-digit growth, reaching a new pinnacle this quarter yet again, driven by strong volume growth and supported by better currency realization and a richer product mix, particularly on commercial vehicles that have stepped up to its highest levels in recent years, and on motorcycles led by Pulsar, which, along with domestic, saw overall brand revenue scale a new peak.
Latin America continues to perform exceptionally well and has delivered yet another new milestone, while Africa and Asia registered heavy double-digit growth. Total exports for the quarter was very close to $600 million, a new record surpassing the previous benchmark set in 2022. The milestone on exports revenue is not just in rupee terms but in dollar terms as well. Moving next to EBITDA, quarterly EBITDA crossed the significant milestone of INR 3,000 crore for the first time, registering a robust 15% year-on-year growth. Margins for the quarter came in at 20.5%. That is another high that we've seen for years, expanding by 70 basis points sequentially, driven by the obvious benefits from a favorable dollar realization as the rupee had weakened and better operating leverage given a larger quarter.
This more than offsets the net cost inflation that I spoke about earlier, which was about 40 basis points in net terms. The sequential increase that you see in other expenses can be ascribed to the extent of about 60% of it being linked to volume increases, and the balance 40% primarily towards investments that we made behind brands to drive salience and competitiveness, as well as on R&D projects that we chose to invest in. On a year-on-year basis, margins have expanded 20 basis points with currency mix, and mix was margin accretive on a year-on-year basis, flattish on a QoQ basis, and operating leverage more than making up for net cost inflation and investments into growth drivers. Turning to profit after tax, we recorded a highest ever PAT at a little under INR 2,500 crore, which was up 24% year-on-year.
However, just a quick reminder about the one-time exceptional tax provision of INR 2,110 crores that we had created last year to account for the withdrawal of indexation benefits and change in tax rate on asset classes as per the Finance Act. Hence, if I look at the PAT growth before this one-time exceptional provision, the number for the base year was INR 22,160 crores, and that translates to a healthy 12% growth this year on that adjusted number. A quick word on cash, consistent with the track record of free cash flow generation, we generated around INR 4,500 crores of free cash in the first half of this year, which is a conversion of almost 100% of the profits after tax. The balance sheet continues to remain very healthy.
Surplus cash is in excess of INR 14,000 crore at the end of the quarter, which will only continue to build up as we get towards the end of the financial year. The cash position has been maintained after two major outflows in these last six months. The first is that we paid a dividend of nearly INR 6,000 crore in July, and the other is the strategic investments that we've made, which add up to slightly over INR 2,000 crore in our Netherlands subsidiary BA I H BV and in BACL . The former was about INR 1,500 crore that we had sent over to partly fund the KTM acquisition in quarter one, and we've infused about INR 500 crore into BACL between quarter one and quarter two to really fund the progress and growth plans for that business. I will spend a couple of minutes on our consolidated results.
On a consolidated basis, our reported revenue grew 19% year-on-year, while consolidated PAT at over INR 2,100 crore reflected a 53% growth year-on-year. The standalone PAT growth of 24% converts to a 53% at the consolidated level, broadly due to a few factors. First, our businesses in Brazil and Bajaj Auto Credit, which have been in the phase of scaling up, reported losses in the base period, essentially last year, and currently have registered strong results, reflecting the focused and decisive actions that have been taken over this last year to build these businesses for sustainable financial performance. Secondly, we've accounted for the share of profit and loss due to the results of PM AG and KTM. We had done the same in the base period as well. It continues to be accounted for by us as an associate company, and therefore we do an equity pickup.
Until such time regulatory approvals are in place and change of control is effected, we will continue to account for this as an associate company. This is likely to be the last quarter that we do it, and then we move to full nine-level consolidation. These two factors, essentially because of the loss in the base period for BACL and Brazil, which have now turned in healthy profits, and the accounting for KTM is essentially leading to the difference between the 24% growth in profit after tax at a standalone level compared to the 53% that you see on a consolidated basis. Let me now spend a few minutes on BACL and KTM. BACL, as you just heard from Rakesh, has continued to make very good progress, and we are very pleased about how it's played out.
Compared to same time last year when the business was expanding its footprint nationwide and making investments upfront that led it to report losses, the company has reported a profit after tax of more than INR 100 crore this quarter for the second time in a row. It was INR 132 crore this time, a growth of about 29% over the last quarter. To give you a sense of the numbers, AUM at the end of the quarter stood at a tad under INR 14,000 crore with the festive season, a very buoyant festive season that the BACL business has seen as well. The AUM is trending upwards, well upwards of INR 14,000 crore on the verge of getting to INR 15,000 crore.
Capital risk adequacy ratio is a little under 20% at 19.8% at the end of the quarter, and the business continues to operate at a very healthy, almost an industry-leading return on equity at about 17.5%, 17.4% for the half year. BACL continues to enjoy the highest level of creditworthiness with AAA ratings and stable long-term debt ratings and A1+ for its short-term debt programs. What we've done is to further diversify its funding sources and support future expansion. The board has now approved the issue of NCDs in addition to the commercial papers that we had released or issued earlier this year. Now coming to KTM, here we've accounted for our share in the loss of Pierer Mobility AG by virtue of our 37% holding in the company as it existed through our Netherlands subsidiary BAIH BV.
Many of you will be familiar with the public filing of PM AG's mid-year results a few months ago in August, and the share of loss pickup arises from that, essentially for the January-June period that KTM and PM AG reported on, during which time production at KTM was halted till the resolution of the restructuring process, which you're aware of. The restructuring process concluded only in June, and production in KTM resumed only at the end of July. What is different this time, though, is that compared to same time last year, is that we have accrued interest income at our Netherlands subsidiary for the loans that the company has advanced to both PM AG and KTM as part of funding the restructuring proceedings, and this has lowered the extent of loss that we have consolidated.
As for the progress on the transaction, and there has been quite a bit of it, you'd be aware, and we've put out a couple of stock exchange filings, one that was on 24th of October to share an update on the regulatory process. Summarizing it very quickly, the approval from the Foreign Investment Control Authority in Austria came in the end of July. On merger control, we've received approvals from authorities in all of the six jurisdictions where it was relevant, and the last one being from Turkey that came in on 18th of September.
The most recent one is the approval from the Austrian Takeover Commission that came in on 23rd of October, who have given their nod, saying that BAIH BV, our subsidiary through whom the acquisition transaction is being executed, is not obliged to make any mandatory takeover bid to the free float shareholders of PMAG, subject to the condition that we exercise the full call option that we had signed in May 25 with Stefan Pierer and his companies, Pierer Industries, for his 50% stake. Really no mandatory bid, which needs to be takeover bid, which needs to be made to the free float shareholders. All we need to do is to fully exercise the call options for the full stake of 50% that was held by Pierer through Pierer Industries.
We need to do this within 20 days post the approval on the last approval, which is essentially the subsidy control from the European Commission. That then leads us to the last final regulatory approval, which is the approval from the European Commission, which is essentially the Directorate of Competition, under which they assess third country subsidies. It's the third country subsidies regulation. The paperwork for this has been filed, and the outcome of this will be known by the 10th of November. We've been given to understand that one deems approval to be in place if there is no objection that is filed within 25 days of filing these documents. 25 days expire on 10th of November.
If there are no objections that come through, this is meant to be a deemed approval, and that would then conclude all the regulatory approvals that needed to be sought for the closure and completion of this transaction. Therefore, in anticipation and subject to receiving this last approval, we have since served notices for the call options to be exercised. One was done in June, and the other one that we have just done yesterday, and you will see in the stock exchange, you may have seen a stock exchange information go out early today. We are now seeking to exercise the full call options from Stefan Pierer and Pierer Industries as directed by the Takeover Commission.
With that, in essence, BAIH BV, which held 49.9% stake in PBAG, with the remaining stake being held by Stefan Pierer, post the exercise of these options, we will now hold 100% of the total shareholding in Pierer Bajaj, the parent company that holds 75% in Pierer Mobility, right? Accordingly, Pierer Bajaj AG will become a wholly owned subsidiary of BAIH BV, and in turn, a step-down subsidiary of Bajaj Auto, right? In terms of next steps, an extraordinary general meeting has been called for and will be convened on 19th of November, at which the name of the company will be changed, is proposed to be changed from Pierer Mobility AG to Bajaj Mobility AG.
It will continue to be listed on the Swiss and the Vienna Stock Exchanges, and alongside the boards, both the Supervisory Board and the Management Boards of KTM and the newly renamed Bajaj Mobility AG will be recast with the nominees that were appointed by Stefan Pierer and Pierer Industries stepping down and the Bajaj appointees taking position. This change of control event, therefore, is expected to happen over the next few days, with some of these events playing out in the next couple of weeks, and that will put us firmly in control of the KTM business. From here onwards, once it becomes a subsidiary, we will end up moving to line-level consolidation for this business. That is on it for the transaction for now. Let me now end with comments on the next quarter on commodity.
On commodity, we're clearly seeing some cost inflation across the metals and noble metals baskets. We have not taken up any pricing as yet to mitigate this impact, but I'm hoping that the tailwind that we are seeing from currency should be able to make up for this. With that, let me hand the call over back to Anand to open up the floor for questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Dinesh. We have the discrete forum for Q&A.
Thank you very much. We'll now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants, you may press star and one to ask the question. The first question is from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Congratulations on a good performance. First, we just wanted to understand your assessment of the changes. What was the effective and the growth, how it should be?
Kapil, sorry to interrupt you, but your voice is breaking. Can you please come in a better reception area? Kapil, can you hear us?
Hello. Yeah. Is this better?
Yes.
Okay. Now, I was saying that.
Kapil, sorry to interrupt you again, but can I request you to rejoin the queue, please? We are losing your audio terribly. Due to no response, we move on to the next participant. Next question is from the line of Gunjan Prithyani from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for taking my question. Just continuing, I think what Kapil was trying to ask, I think similar. If you can sort of share a little bit more perspective on what you've seen post GST in terms of customer behavior, what in terms of while you called out some premiumization, but it would be good to know what are the behavioral changes you're seeing pre and post GST. Also, can you share the festive growth number in itself? How did it fare for you with that number you have handy? And a clarification that the 6%-8% growth for the period, remainder of the year, this is for the entire industry or is it for the motorcycle?
The impact, which we have immediately experienced because of the GST rate cuts, we assess it to be about 6%-8% swing in the industry. What we have done is we've looked at the data from the last five, six years as to how you see during the festive, the industry moves up in any case. The growth rate itself, even like-to-like growth rates move up like about 5-6 percentage points. If the industry is growing in April, August by 5% in the festive, it starts to grow at 10%. If you take out the COVID period, that is what it is. This time, it has grown, the motorcycle industry has grown by about 14%.
We assess, we think that almost an 8%-9% swing was due to the GST rate cut and all that, but it will probably not be sustaining at that level. Therefore, we feel going forward, the industry should grow at 6%-8%. It was declining at -1 . Therefore, there is a swing of 7%-8%. The key point is not just about the quantum of growth, but I think it's the quality of growth. We have seen a very sharp preference for upgrading. Each segment, like I said, if it was a 100cc segment, people bought the most expensive 100cc. If it was a 125cc segment, it was products like our NS125, which are over INR 100,000, almost INR 100,000, and at the top end of the pile, grew faster than our own base 125cc offerings.
Similarly, in the 150-160 segment, our top offerings with USD forks, double channel ABS, grew faster than the base version. We feel that this sort of will continue for the whole pyramid to expand at the overall. We will have to see how it goes. Yes, we are very happy about the swing in the growth rate and the quality of the growth. That is what I said. This positive environment is always when the industry is declining, it is quite a grind to get market share. When there is a positive environment, particularly for a company like ours, which sort of leverages innovation and wants to attract customers to a better proposition, a positive trading environment is very, very helpful.
Got it. That's quite helpful. My second question is on the CV exports business. Clearly, I mean, it's been an impressive growth for the last couple of quarters. Just looking to hear your thoughts on is it opening up of new markets, is it stabilization, or there were some license issues and digit restrictions. What is it that's driving the growth, and what is, and more from the perspective sustainably, how do we look at this category growth over the next 12, 18 months?
The fantastic thing over here is that I can't pinpoint a single market or even two or three markets which are suddenly swung this. Actually, we have been sensing that this will grow because there were multiple markets across which we had launched an intense developmental effort, particularly after the ban in Egypt, which used to be one of our larger markets. And those development efforts are now bringing fruition. I would say Philippines, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ghana, and even Mexico to some extent, Bolivia, a lot of these markets have actually combined to deliver this. Because it is so broad-based and it is not based on any particular event or any one-time order, we feel that this trend should continue.
We are also hoping for a breakthrough for our queue business in Egypt, which you know that we have been trying to get. While the top-level approvals are through, at the operating level, at the RTO level, those approvals are just coming in, and we hope to come in, even expand our queue quarter cycle exports. Yeah, I feel that we should be able to maintain this tempo.
Okay. Thanks. I join them. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Yeah. I hope I have better luck with the line this time. Thank you, sir. Just on the GST question, yes, I mean, partly my question has been answered, but also wanted to understand how should we think about the pricing power going ahead in terms of discounting as well as what is the update on the ABS norms coming up? How much impact can that have on the cost as well as demand in your assessment?
I've not, Kapil, understood your point about discounting. If you were asking about discounting, there's hardly any discounting. There's here and there a little bit of tactical support, which at a regional level you gave and some financing support. I'm not sure as to what you were asking for, but if you're saying that whether discounting will cease, I don't think discounting was rampant. In some segments, it was, particularly in the ones which we don't participate in, the 100 cc and below, we don't participate in that discounting. I can't comment on that because it was not being done by us. I don't see any major change over there. Let's wait for the ABS announcements.
There is an important meeting on the 11th with the Minister, with Minister Gadkari, which is when he's meeting the industry for a discussion on the pros and cons of doing the ABS introduction on all two-wheelers. Let's see what happens in that meeting and subsequently.
How much is the impact of ABS on your?
It will be anywhere between INR 2,000-INR 3,000.
Okay. Is the industry prepared with capacity? What is the situation on capacity for ABS?
It will be difficult to manage the capacity because there doesn't obviously exist. This includes all scooters, all 100cc, all 125cc bikes, which is a huge component trend. Therefore, obviously, the government will take note, has taken note of this, that there will have to be a phase-wise execution. All these matters are under discussion, actually. I mean, I would not like to speculate because this is exactly the kind of issues which are being discussed with the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
Okay. Thanks, sir. Second, just wanted to check on the exports. Now, we are seeing a very good trajectory, especially October saw a step up. Is this the kind of new run rate closer to 200,000 that we should expect going ahead?
I think so in the immediate term, but there will be some ups and downs, obviously, because there is a seasonality in exports also. Right now, the exports is sort of gearing up for or has already geared up for attacking the season in LATAM , which is the start from Thanksgiving and goes on till Christmas and New Year. We are already in good position for that. I'm hoping that we get good retail in that season, which will allow us to then replenish stock. There will be a little, and then Europe and all these areas go a little bit down in the first calendar quarter. I think it might be a seasonality, but that's why I'm focusing more on seeing on the growth rate because there may be a little bit of seasonality. Yeah, we are now knocking on the doors of 200,000. Absolutely.
Okay. That's great. Finally, just on the EV revenue, what percentage of the revenues are EVs, and how much is the PLI incentive we would have accrued as a percentage of revenues for the quarter?
The EV revenues in quarter two were 18% of domestic revenues, and I'll just wait for yeah.
EV revenues is a little over INR 1,700 crore, 18%, as Rakesh has just called out. Kapil, the piece on PLI accrual is now business as usual for us. We track it like any other piece. We've continued to accrue the way we did last year, what is the PLI percentage is. What I do want to use the opportunity to call out is the fact that on the electric portfolio, yeah, which is a mix of both electric two-wheelers and electric three-wheelers, in this quarter, we have hit double-digit margin, EBITDA margin. Yeah, that's the progress, right?
Sir, what has driven that?
It's coming out of a mix of a growing proportion of the electric three-wheelers plus better unit economics on the Chetak models. If I just look back in time, same time last year, on let's say three of our lead models on Chetak, we would have been bleeding EBITDA. As I look at the current moment, we're nearly EBITDA neutral on all of them.
Okay. That's great, sir. Thank you so much. That's all from my side.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Aditya Jhawar from Investec India. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. A couple of questions. Number one, on the new products. Last quarter, we spoke about the non-Pulsar brand. Any timelines of new product launches in the ICE portfolio?
We've got a few introductions starting from December in the Pulsar range, and there will be some in March and then in May. So we've got at least three good model introductions in December, March, and May.
This is other than Pulsar, Rakesh?
No, no. This is within Pulsar. This is within Pulsar.
Yeah, but you also spoke about a non-Pulsar brand in the last quarter. Any timelines for that?
That part I'm holding close to my chest, but it will be sooner than later.
Okay. Fair enough. It's good to know.
Yeah. It's an absolutely new development. It will happen in the next fiscal, but earlier than later.
Okay. Okay. It's good to know that you're recalibrating Triumph and KTM to get the benefit of lower GST. Any timeline for new products with lower engine displacement for Triumph and KTM?
That work is going on at a feverish pace. Again, I do not want to just give these timelines, but I hope you understand the complexity of making a new engine. I think you will all be surprised by how fast we can swing that through.
Absolutely. Perfect. Congratulations. Good set of numbers. All the best.
Thanks.
Aditya, do you have any follow-up question?
Yeah. Just one final one. On the Mexico tariff, it seems that export to Mexico is about 10%-12% of India's overall export of two-wheelers. It seems there is an increase in tariff that will be effective next year. Any thoughts on that, Rakesh?
Yeah. Mexico is a very big market. In fact, it's the largest market in Latin America, and the tariffs have increased to 35%. There are only two companies which have got, which will not, which will get a concessionary tariff because of the investments which have been made and approvals which are in place from before. This is one Mexican company, and the second one is Bajaj Auto. Instead of 35%, we will get, our tariff will be only 5%. I mean, right now, we are paying 35%, and because we have the ministry's approvals, etc., our plan will continue with 5%. All the others will increase to 35%.
Oh, that's good to know. All the best. That's it from my side.
Thanks.
Thank you very much. Next question is from the line of Amyn Pirani from JPMorgan , please go ahead.
Yes. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. My question is actually on the domestic three-wheeler business. Now, obviously, last year, we were actually on a very sharp market share gaining journey, and electrification was also growing. Now, I think you addressed it partly in the opening remark that the market share seems to be consolidating maybe because of some supply chain challenges, but electrification continues to grow at a very sharp pace. How should we think about the growth for the industry as a whole, ICE plus EV, and your eventual market share aspirations in the overall market? A related question is that, till when do you think the PLI benefits could continue? Because that would be a significant part or a material part of the fact that you are generating these high margins in the EV three-wheelers.
How should we think about EV three-wheeler profitability over a slightly medium term?
Okay. I'll take the industry and the segment and all that, and then Dinesh can talk about the PLI and all those things. There are three segments: ICE auto, e-auto, and e-rick. ICE auto had been declining. April to August, the ICE auto business sort of was declining by about 4%-5%. Because of the GST rate cut, the payback period has improved in ICE auto, and we have already seen some very positive uptick about that. We feel that this - 5% will become sort of a 0%. It will be flattish. This is a very, very welcome thing for us because we've got not 75,000. Our market shares are touching 80%, and products like RE CNG are highly profitable for us. This is a good thing.
The ICE auto goes from - 5% to flattish, and there we got a great position. In e-auto, it was rocking at about 75% growth. It's tempered down because the payback in RE CNG is 9 months, and sorry, 13 months, and in e-auto, it's 19 months. E-auto, that way, on a level playing field where there is no restriction, actually, people tend to buy RE CNG. Be that as it may, this 75% + is now, we think, would be around 50% growth rate. There, as you know, we had touched the pole position, but we got hobbled because of this supply chain issue and went under the number one position in Q2. I think Q3, we will start to get back some of the market share and closer to the number one position.
This is an important market because we continue to grow by 50% or so. Here, while everyone else has got one or two products or mainly one product, one model, we have two very successful models, the small body and the wide body. We are introducing two more over there. We will have four in that. People also ask me this question, on what basis everyone is making electric, on what they look the same and blah, blah, and on what basis you will win? Of course, there is a qualitative thing about a company which is trusted, and most of the people wait for Bajaj to introduce the electric auto. I keep that aside, that softer brand side thing, but no, very powerful.
I say that on the hard side, it's the segmentation which we are doing where we are positioning a product for different use cases. We have studied the different use cases. Finally, there is the e-rick, which is right now at about 40,000 units. I must say it is shrinking gradually because partly people are trading up or finally, because of the congestion, a lot of restrictions have been placed on their movements, particularly over flyovers, this, that, and the other, in many cities in Uttar Pradesh and some other big-time states because these are very big over there. Therefore, it is sort of restricted. Already, the government is saying that you have to register these, and only the better ones are being registered. There is some element of organizing of that industry which is taking place.
We have launched the e-rick over there. It is early days, but we are very, very keen to sort of grab a good share of this market. Beyond this, in another one or two years' time, we are working on some more solutions because we are seeing there is an intense requirement for this last-mile transport. If you put all this together, I think it's a very lucrative and large segment which people don't appreciate. We've got a fantastic position to begin with in this, both in terms of brand, in terms of our technology, in terms of understanding of the market, the dealer network, and the success. We are very, very optimistic, both from a corporate performance, financial performance, and BU performance point of view.
I mean, on your question on the PLI, look, I think the PLI is still valid till March of 2028. Fundamentally, we've still got, let's say, about three years. To your question, when it gets phased out, what happens? The intention very clearly is to start building organic margin that will start to replace the PLI benefit over time. If I go by the experience of Chetak, it typically takes a couple of years for R&D effort to start finding its way into market. Yeah. I think there is already a workstream that is well underway on rationalizing cost structures, like I said, to build back organic margin for electric three-wheelers. Hopefully, by the time PLI gets phased out in March of 2028, the benefits of that workstream will start to play out.
Of course, it's also something to watch out for as to what happens at the end of the PLI because clearly, the sharp pricing that is operating in the market is on the back of some of these incentives. We'll need to see how market pricing settles at that point of time when the incentives are taken away. We are doing our bit to ensure that we start to build margin on the back of very strong cost rationalization programs.
I'll clarify one point to that. I just want to drive this important point clearly. The structure of the industry is like 40,000 ICE auto, 20,000 e-auto, and 40,000 e-rick. [Mota moti], this is the way it is. Now, that 40,000 ain't going to go anywhere, the CNG and the ICE one. Because why? Because it is economically better today.
The payback in a CNG auto is far better than an e-auto. It's very different in two-wheelers, okay, because of CNG and familiarity of the product, which is that you've got 80% market share. There might be slight erosion, like 40 may become over the years 35. Now, this 20 is growing at a breakneck speed, and that is growing by getting first-time users because there is sheer demand in the industry. That certainly is growing on that basis, plus an upgrade from the e-rick. Here, we were like a number one, number two position, but we will be leveraging all those things which I told you about. Of course, there is the other balance 40, which might become 35 in the future or 30. There also, with the launch of Riki, we've got a play.
You can see right from Riki to the Maxima, which, and everything in between, we straddle the entire industry quite effectively.
Thank you a lot. That's good to know. I look forward to the new solutions that you were also referring to. Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Raghunandan N L from Nuvama Research. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Congratulations on strong numbers. Firstly, on KTM, can you speak on the way forward for India and Austria businesses? Can you talk of steps for turnaround in Austria business and also synergy opportunities with the India business? That was the first question. Second, on Bajaj Auto Credit, what is the investment so far after the INR 500 crore investment you spoke about and further investment expected in FY 2026 and 2027? That's it from my side. Thanks.
Raghu, on the KTM Austria business, you'll have to take a pause for a bit because technically, we are still awaiting that last regulatory approval. Having waited this long, we'd rather wait for a few more days, move to change of control, and then really start to talk externally about it as we get fully involved. Let's give it some time. Fair to assume that as we get involved, once the change of control happens over the next couple of weeks, we will then put in place a full-fledged program for the operational turnaround that straddles pretty much the front end and the back end, including rationalization, of course. A lot of our internal thinking done, of course, but let's wait for regulatory approvals that are a few days out and then start to comment on it. Yeah.
We'll do that in the next couple of months. Need to be mindful of the fact that the future Bajaj Mobility AG is a listed entity. It's a listed entity. We just have to be mindful of listing obligations even in Vienna and Switzerland. Right? We'll come back to it at some point of time to talk about it. On BACL, our current cumulative investment is INR 2,900 crore. Of this INR 2,900 crore, we've infused about INR 500 crore in this financial year. In terms of how we see it going out, I think for the most part, the business is now getting to a stage of where it will start to fund for itself. Maybe the last couple of hundred crore, between INR 200 crore-INR 300 crore, is what it will need from here onwards to get to a pass of being able to sustain its own future growth.
All right? At the moment, it's currently operating at a debt-equity ratio of about 4-4.5. That's the level at which it'll probably get to at 5. And then the profits that it will start to deliver should start to take care of the growth priorities and the churn of the EU portfolio.
Got it, sir. Thanks for that. What would be the total financing ratio as of now and the share of BACL?
Just give me a second. The financing penetration, not very different, is close to about 70% for motorcycles. BACL penetration in the total financing is about 40%. On three-wheelers, in any case, you know that the penetration has been very stable at between 99.5%. It hovers in that range. BACL penetration is about 50%.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Pramod Kumar from UBS Securities. Please go ahead. Okay. Pramod, may I request to unmute your line and proceed with your question? Due to no response, we move on to the next participant. Next question is from the line of Yash Agrawal from Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Congratulations, sir, for the great set of readers. My first question is on the EV demand. Post GST, there is a 10% cut in the ICE two-wheelers. Would it hamper the EV penetration going forward?
Two-wheeler?
Will EV penetration come off because of the 10% reduction in ICE?
Yeah. No, see, there was such an onrush during the season that we did see the EV demand tapering down. The EV demand, let's say, for two-wheelers became in single digits, much below single-digit growth, much below what happened in motorcycles. That is because there was a big surge in favor of the conventional and the GST cuts, etc. We think that the demand might get tapered by a few percentage points, but the proposition is intact. When people are buying, they are buying more to solve the operating expense problem in two-wheelers. That, it is 30 paise, 2 or 3 rupees. It is like 1/10 of what an ICE scooter delivers. We feel that this will very soon, in one or two months, get back to the growth rates. The growth rates were at about 20%.
We feel that maybe 15%-20% range it will get back. Because even when EVs were priced at EV two-wheelers were priced at INR 150,000, people were shifting to them. People were shifting to them to solve their monthly fuel expense problem. They will continue to shift to EV to solve the same problem.
Thank you, sir. Very helpful. On the CNG motorcycle demand, how is the response as of now?
The response, of course, has been much lower than the initial phase. We feel that it is going to be a long curve to market development. There are two, three things which are there. One is the quantum of savings, which sometimes gets impaired by the underfilling of gas in the CNG tank, which, because of pressure reasons, even though the CNG network may be available, but sometimes because the gas is not fully filled, it compromises the range. In any case, the first adopters are people who are heavy-duty users because they tend to save more. For them, range is very important. When that range gets compromised, they switch the CNG to petrol. Then, of course, the savings get impaired.
Of course, the government is making a lot of efforts in ensuring the fuel pipelines are such that the pressure quality is maintained. Second, of course, is that the penetration of the CNG network has to improve, which, again, it is continuously doing. Those are the two issues which we have encountered, which, after the initial burst of adoption, had slowed down. We feel that it will be a slow and steady improvement. We are focusing on those geographies which have got not just the number of CNG pumps, but the density. Now we have understood the market a little bit more. There may be a state which may be having, I mean, Bihar may be having more CNG pumps than West Bengal, but Bihar's density is per thousand far lower than West Bengal. West Bengal becomes a better target.
Another illustration I'm telling you. We have sort of adapted our go-to market for that.
Okay. Very helpful. The last question is on the electric motorcycles. Do you have any near-term plans of introducing a product in motorcycle as well, the EV version? How do you see that?
Sorry?
How do you see that similar to the response to two-wheeler scooters and three-wheelers? Do electric motorcycles do have a penetration possibility in near-term?
See, there are some use cases, both in the entry-level and high-end sporting in India and globally. These are very, very difficult to predict. We are in this game. We are very clear that we must have options which serve these use cases. Of course, nobody can say for certainty that it will be a bull's-eye or whatever. I think there is a greater loss from missing out an opportunity than investing in something and that opportunity does not realize. Therefore, we have a very vigorous R&D effort going on for development of motorcycles.
Okay. Okay. That's all from my side. Thank you
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take that as the last question. Now, hand the conference over to Mr. Anand Newar, Head of Investor Relations, for closing comments.
Thank you, Anand. And thank you, everyone, for joining the call.
Thank you very much. On behalf of Bajaj Auto Ltd, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.