Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, and welcome to the Q1 FY 2024 results conference call of Bajaj Auto Limited. My name is Lizanne. I will be your coordinator. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the initial remarks from the management. Should you need assistance during the 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 Limited. Thank you. Over to you, sir.
Thanks, Lizanne. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Bajaj Auto's Q1 FY24 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 opening remarks from Rakesh from the business and operational performance for the quarter, and Dinesh will take you through the financial highlights. We will then open the forum for the Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Anand. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the discussion of the Q1 FY 2024 results. We deeply appreciate your presence here this evening. Let's begin with an overview of our performance in Q1. We are very pleased to report a strong start to the fiscal year, with new benchmarks on both financial outcomes and business operations. We have achieved an all-time high in revenue, domestic revenue, overall EBITDA, and PAT. This comes on the back of a record FY 2023, which once again reflects the resilience and vitality of our business model and the portfolio. Dinesh will take you through the details of the financial performance, let me focus on the business unit performance. Let's start with the exports business unit. The downward trend in volume that began in Q1 of the previous year appears to have come to a halt.
We estimate that industry retails at the global level for our footprint for motorcycles in Q1 are about 2% over Q4, while our retails are 5% up over Q4. In our top 15 markets, accounting for almost 80% of our sales, motorcycle industry retails grew by 4% compared to Q4, while our retails grew by 7%. Here, I must point out that exports of the premium brands, Pulsar and Dominar, grew by over 40% sequentially. In CV too, the market has almost bottomed out, though Q1 retails still remain marginally lower than Q4 retails. Similarly, the story on the Forex availability is also improving, albeit gradually, as the central banks have started making a slow shift from the extremely cautious stand they had taken for almost four quarters now. The recovery over Q4 has been driven by Africa. Latam has held steady.
South Asia and Middle East are improving, but mainly due to Bangladesh, still lower than Q4 and Q1. ASEAN was considerably lower in Q1 compared to Q4, due to a temporary dislocation in the market. Hence, underlying recovery is still a mixed bag. In Nigeria, the industry performance in Q1 was 34% better than Q4, and we were 41% better in terms of retail. However, the situation in Nigeria is still not fully settled, as a slew of reforms in Forex, removal of fuel subsidy, et cetera, has not allowed the markets to reach equilibrium. Inflation of 25% and fuel prices increases continue to exert pressure on local pricing and rider incomes. However, all the reforms are very good for longer-term stability and transparency, which will hopefully ensure an even stronger and sustainable revival in due course.
We face shortfalls in Philippines as the government has implemented new registration norms and processes which have impacted demand. This has been going on for the last three, four months, but now adoption of the new process is in its last stages, which will hopefully allow retails to return to normalcy in a month or two. Apart from these, we are also watching out for the impact of inflation on demand in Kenya, Colombia and Argentina, where the retails have been sluggish. While there is definitive improvements on both the Forex side and the demand side, a few key markets are still not settled, as I mentioned, hence our outlook for Q2 remains cautiously optimistic. We believe we will see improvements in Q2 over Q1, but these will be incremental and not quantum shifts as yet. A quick word on Brazil.
As you know, we have incorporated Bajaj Brazil and commenced retails of three models under the Dominar banner in January this year. We started with building a top-class retail network in São Paulo City. Over there, Dominar 400 has got an outstanding reception, capturing 15% share of retails in its class in São Paulo City, with a healthy order book of two months of retails. Our expansion and retails have been constrained by supply, for which we depend on contract manufacturing, a model adopted by most new entrants. We believe removal of the supply constraint is key to a high level of performance in this important market, and taking note of this, the board has today approved the setting up of manufacturing by Bajaj Brazil in Manaus Special Economic Zone. We expect this capacity to come on stream within 12 months' time.
Coming to the domestic motorcycles business unit. After a decline in April, the industry started to record growth at a retail level in May and June, at about 4%-5% levels, resulting in a Q1 retail growth of 2%. We expect the industry to continue to grow at 4%-6% over the next few months. In this scenario, our retail growth in Q1 has been 19%, though I must add that it was helped by a base effect of low retails last year due to the chip lack of supply shortage faced by us. Irrespective, we have gained at least 2% market share in our key focus area of the top half of the industry, which is the 125 cc plus segment.
This segment now accounts for almost 70% of our volume sales in Q1, and was 60% only in FY 2023. Obviously, this has very positive implications for revenue and EBITDA. The performance has been driven by the Pulsar brand, which has once again delivered exceptional results, crossing the milestone of over 4.2 lakh units in volumes sold globally, generating revenues of over INR 3,300 crores. We will continue this approach of targeting subsegments in the top half of the industry with product-led interventions. The upgrading of the Pulsar NS series has had a very good impact and grown the sales of the NS series by 50% in Q1, with a very positive impact on revenue and EBITDA. You can expect further introductions in this segment, in the top half, in the next three months.
In the intracity business unit, comprising our series, our sales in Q1 of 32,000 units average per month, surpassed the pre-COVID level of 30,000 units per month in FY 20. This is much ahead of the industry's recovery, resulting in a Q1 market share of almost 80%. Our performance continues to be driven by the CNG segment, which is riding on the relentless expansion of the CNG network in India. In quarter one, we also introduced the electric three-wheeler in both the passenger and cargo version in one city each. The response over the last two months from the field has been very positive, with healthy bookings being garnered. Our approach is to watch the performance of the vehicles over the multiple use cases in the field and ensure we set a new benchmark in terms of reliability and performance before scaling up.
Given the performance of the vehicles till now, we expect to start to scale up the business from September onwards in a phased manner, prioritizing large markets where ICE three-wheelers are not permitted, thereby adding new business to our portfolio. On Chetak, this quarter was quite challenging for electric two-wheelers, with the government announcing a reduction in subsidies in May, effective 1st of June. This resulted in a surge in May retails and a drop in June. The average sales of the industry in Q1 were at 70,000-72,000 units per month of high-speed vehicles, which was very similar to Q4 FY 2023. While the price increase has dampened the hugely attractive proposition of savings, the OpEx savings still has appeal, particularly for those customers who have a higher per-day usage.
We expect the industry to continue to grow on this basis, though at lower double-digit rates and not the triple-digit growth rates experienced earlier. For this, we have to really monitor July, August, and September. We also expect further consolidation in the industry, with the top five, six players moving from just 50% levels in FY23 to almost 80% levels this year, thereby offering a higher growth opportunity to these players, despite the slower expansion of the category. We remain committed to our strategy of building capability by investing in R&D, manufacturing, building a differentiated brand and an exclusive sales and service network, and dedicated manpower to deliver sustainable leadership. We will increase the Chetak portfolio starting quarter three.
Our exclusive network is now present in the top 100 cities and will expand to 120 cities, with 140 stores by end of Q2, covering almost 75% of the industry. That exclusive network, particularly in service, has enabled us to give a superior ownership experience to the customer and forms a key part of the Chetak proposition, a classy, dependable, and hassle-free ownership experience. On this basis, we are aiming to improve month-on-month. We will stay on course for scaling up and increasing market share. The Pro-biking business unit, which now has three brands, KTM, Husqvarna, and Triumph. The KTM business continues to move up smartly, with a higher end adventure and RC range accounting for more and more of the total sales, thus ensuring a better level of revenue and margin.
The 250 cc plus range is being driven through product refreshment and a very differentiated riding program called Pro-XP, which is designed to be unique and thrilling. I invite the riders amongst you to come and experience it once, though it is not for the faint-hearted, I must warn you. There's no leisurely chugging along. These are edge-of-the-seat tours. On Triumph, as you know, we've had an outstanding reception to the launch. The riding community of journalists and influencers have also given the Roadster Speed 400 a solid thumbs up. We have over 17,000 bookings as of this morning, just from 15 centers where we have dealerships. The dispatches commenced yesterday, and we expect to start making deliveries in a couple of days to the first customers.
By the end of quarter two, we should be in 44 towns from the current 17, I think, and with over 50 stores. Production, too, is being ramped up in a phased manner, and we hope to hit a rate of 5,000 per month within this quarter, most likely in September. In October, we will commence exports. This adds an absolutely new and high-quality segment to both our business and also to Triumph's business as well. Overall, Q2 and FY 2024 hold out a lot of promise. The domestic motorcycle business should outpace the industry, particularly in the 125 cc plus segment. The CV business is strongly resurgent and exports are improving with every month and hopefully now every quarter. The new businesses of Chetak, electric three-wheeler and Triumph will be robustly developed to become future engines of growth.
Despite the industry being lower due to seasonality, our endeavor in Q2 will be to deliver a similar performance as we have delivered in Q1. With this, let me hand over the call to Dinesh to take you through the financial performance.
Thank you, Rakesh. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us on this call as we share with you our perspectives and further insight on our results for quarter one. As usual, let me provide you with an overview of the operating context that underlines our results, which also serves as a reference point against which you see our financial performance. Let me start by saying I think we've had a good quarter in the context of the operating environment. The commentary on markets, though not fundamentally different from what you've heard us speak about for some time now. You've just heard from Rakesh on exports. Looking at the totality of our countries, the markets seem to be bottoming out.
Of course, a few pluses and minuses, as you would expect when dealing with a broad range of geographies, but at least the decline sequentially seems to be ebbing. The situation remains quite turbulent, though, caused by a mix of macroeconomic challenges, geopolitical issues, and the continued strain in dollar liquidity. The last, by far, being the most telling factor, in terms of stifling our business. Of course, thanks to some decisive actions that we've taken for some time now, on both arranging for foreign exchange as well as on the ground across the countries. Directionally, our billing numbers have trended up.
You would have noticed, from data that you are privy to, that we moved from 105,000 units in March to 118,000 in April, to 126,000 in May, and then ended the quarter with 140,000 in June. Overall, leading to the 12% increase in sales sequentially, relative to the low of the last quarter that we had hit. Retails for about four quarters now have continued to outstrip billing volumes yet again, which therefore has led to a depletion of inventory in our key markets, which is about 30%.
If I were to compare current inventory levels relative to same time last year, 30%-35% is what that number looks like, and therefore also substantial headroom for growth, you know, to build back inventory as we come out of this situation. On the domestic front, you've just heard the motorcycle industry growth remained by and large steady, bolstered by relatively buoyant marriage markets. This is that season, that time of the year, and the continued momentum of the 125+ cc segment, which has really been the driver for the industry for some time now, as indeed ourselves. I'd say we've had a good quarter because we have surpassed the market growth across both marriage and non-marriage markets, with the growth in the former, which is essentially the marriage market, almost being 2.5x that of the latter.
The result is that we have had a share a share gain performance in the entirety, particularly led by the continued acceleration in our M3 and S1 shares. Notably on brand Pulsar continues to grow from strength to strength. It continues to deliver its strong run, and has now crossed 3.5 lakh units in a quarter, for the very first time. There's only twice that number has happened. It's reached 3 lakh in recent times. One was in quarter two of last year when we were building back inventory, and this time around, when Pulsar has really crossed 3.5 lakh in the quarter. On commercial vehicles, we continue to lead the industry performance and volume recovery. On three-wheeler autos, we are at over 100% of the pre-COVID levels.
We've had this now for a few quarters. You've heard us say that, and that continues to be the case compared to under 50% for the rest of the industry. The result is of which is that we now have our market share stopping the 80% mark. Coming to commodities, really a story of two parts. The quarter started off with some level of inflation. We saw a slight uptick in steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, and platinum as we started the quarter, but then that reversed trend as the quarter passed on. Towards the end of the quarter, we are back to some level of stability. In fact, we now have commodities trending back to almost quarter four levels. As I see from here, therefore, the situation is looking relatively stable on the commodities front.
Now with that context, I think we've done a fairly good job in delivering our highest ever revenues, EBITDA, and net profit for the quarter. Our revenues from operation hit an all-time high of INR 10,310 crore, growing 16% quarter-on-quarter and 29% year-on-year. This mark of INR 10,000 crore has been reached twice in recent times. The first time we did it was in quarter two of last year when we were building back inventory into the pipeline, after the shortage that was created in quarter one of last year when we hit a low on our volumes. This is the second time that we've done it at INR 10,310. Really, a notable milestone in terms of this quarter's performance.
The growth this time was underpinned by double-digit volume growth, with the sustained buoyancy on the domestic front, cushioning the weak, although the directionally improving exports performance. Our domestic revenues registered its biggest ever quarter. This quarter on domestic, in terms of revenues, has been at its highest. We've maintained the double-digit growth trajectory yet again. All businesses have contributed to this. You just heard on motorcycles, we had a share gain performance. On commercial vehicles, we've consistently performed and continued to maintain that momentum on the three-wheeler business and grown share. We've steadily scaled up our Chetak volumes, which is now up 2x over the last quarter.
I have previously mentioned this, and I'd like to keep emphasizing it, that our results demonstrate the resilience and the strength of our operating model, given a unique mix of exports and domestic in the overall scheme. That's the reason why despite exports being down almost 35% year-on-year, we're still able to register our highest ever top line growth. EBITDA came in at INR 1,954 crores, registering a growth of 14% quarter-on-quarter, and a very strong 51% year-on-year. Our margins closed at 19%, up 280 basis points year-on-year, driven by dynamic price and cost management, better foreign exchange realization, and operating leverage as we've grown the business bigger. You will see a slight dip in the margin quarter-on-quarter.
We were at 19.3% last quarter, we are at 19.0% this time around, it might seem like it's a 30 basis points drop. That's really coming on the back of a bland, typical seasonal skew that we have in this quarter for commuter motorcycles, especially led by the large markets. We took pricing of about [a] percentage point thereabout in the course of this quarter, and that was really to cover an increase in costs coming on two counts. One, the material cost inflation I mentioned to you on the metals complex as we started the quarter, which, of course, ended as the quarter passed on.
The other, which is what we would have spoken about in the past, which is essentially the cost impact arising out of the implementation of the OBD2A compliance on our bikes. Therefore, price effectively covered all of the costs between the material inflation and the OBD2A impact, which I'd say was almost half a piece. Coming to currency, the rupee was fairly steady, range bound through the quarter. Our export realization was 82.1 this quarter, relative to 81.5 in the last quarter, and 77.4 base period, same time last year. Volumes were up, so you would expect operating leverage to have kicked in.
That was offset by the negative mix, you know, that I just mentioned, largely coming in from the typical and planned seasonal demand of commuter motorcycles in the mature markets, specifically, and in the growing scale of Chetak electric vehicles. However, having said this, in effect, the overall margin levels of 19%, give or take a few, you know, as you have seen us, leaves us quite comfortable. Unless, of course, there are any VUCA events, we are quite comfortable with the margin situation as it currently stands. Finally, we closed the quarter with a record net profit of INR 1,665 crores and a cash surplus of over INR 19,500 crores. Importantly, adding free cash flows, net free cash flows of about INR 2,000 crores in the course of this quarter.
This cash balance provides us with sufficient capacity to grow our business, make very competitive investments, and offer attractive returns to our shareholders. Looking ahead, one expects the domestic business to continue to sustain its revenue momentum. Having said this, I want to draw your attention to a little bit of the skew that you will see in the base period. You will recall same time last year, in quarter one, we hit our lowest volumes because we were faced with the semiconductor issue. We had depleted pipeline, and we were working on alternate supply sources. Those alternate supply sources, if you recall, came on stream effectively end May and June, and then July through September is when we really filled back the pipeline. Our pipeline levels had dropped to almost 25 days at that point of time.
We used the second quarter, which was July through September, to really build back inventory across our dealerships, and therefore, that has led to a bit of a skew between quarter one and quarter two. When I say that we will look to drive the continuity of our momentum on the domestic business, I'm talking about our retails, because the reported growth, the headline growth from a billing perspective, might be a bit impacted by the comparator, which is skewed towards quarter two in the base quarter. On balance, when you look at it, half one this year over half one last year, very clearly, we will look to be growing. It's just that you have this Q1 and Q2 interplay that will happen. Yeah.
On exports, we continue to remain steadfast in building back volumes, really making each quarter larger than the previous one. We're taking a range of interventions to manage the currency availability, but it could be some while before we restore back to the peak levels that you would have seen in FY2022. Really expect a gradual build back in export volume and not really a step jump or shift, given the larger macro challenges across those countries. On Chetak, our objective is to stay competitive and continue our journey of network expansion, even as a new normal emerges in the industry, given the reset of the FAME subsidy that came into effect on 1st of June .
We're planning to add many more outlet cities, dealers, and grow volumes, and we continue to stay very focused on supply chain and R&D initiatives to reduce the cost of sourcing of key components. On three-wheelers, you know, you will see us grow the business in, on the EV portion, as you just heard Rakesh talk about in a very calibrated manner, which with a strong focus on product performance, reliability, and durability. We are investing very substantially, by the way. We're investing very substantially behind our EV three-wheelers. We are putting up a new facility. We are building a new facility to manufacture these electric three-wheelers in our site in Waluj in Aurangabad.
This, along with the other investments that we are making on the EV two-wheeler side, which essentially is dies and molds to support new products in the pipeline and innovation, will essentially see us spend anywhere between INR 400 crore-INR 500 crore on EV-related CapEx in the course of this year. On Triumph, there's enough buzz and excitement already that you've heard from the media and the enthusiasts, I'll keep that real brief and say that it's about action time for us. We've got more bookings in our plant capacity and really the action is for us to convert a lot of those bookings into real delivery, as product starts flowing into our dealerships, starting now itself. Finally, the core metals basket. From a margin perspective, the core metals basket appears to be relatively stable.
I just made the point that as we progressed through the quarter, we saw commodity levels come back to Q4 levels. I think we're relatively well-placed on that, and we look to sustain our profitability whilst dynamically managing the growth agenda that you just heard Rakesh and myself talk to you about. Before I hand the session back, let me summarize by saying that we're quite pleased with our performance this quarter. It has been a record performance across both top line and bottom line, notwithstanding a challenging economic and external operating environment. This has been supported by strong competitive positions across our businesses, and that's something that we hope to continue in the quarter ahead. With that, let me hand the session back to Anand Newar. Anand Newar, over to you.
Thank you, Dinesh. Lizanne, with this, we can open the forum for the Q&A.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with the question-and-answer session. Anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one on your touchtone 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. The first question is from the line of Siddharth Bera from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir, thanks for the opportunity, and thanks really for the detailed commentary on the demand outlook across segments. My first question is on the gross margin side. If we see on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the margins have come off by about 200 basis points. If you can first sort of help us understand the impact from various segments, like you said, there was one negative mix impact and commodity cost impact as well. If you can break it up into the several segments which has led to this impact. Second is on the price hikes. Any price hikes you have taken in the current quarter in Q2 after the first quarter, which maybe should help the margins going ahead?
Okay, thanks, Siddharth, for your question. Let's talk, I did make a mention that the dilution that you're seeing in gross margin, and consequently in the overall EBITDA that you talk about on 30 basis points. Let's just break it up in the elements. I made a mention that last quarter, essentially quarter one, we took pricing of the order of about 1%. That covered in entirety the material cost inflation that we saw in the early part of the quarter, as well as the OBD2A impact, you know, as vehicles were made compliant to that regulation. Price versus cost was really managed on that front. I'd say, on currency, I made a mention, 82.1 this quarter versus 81.5 last quarter.
On balance, not a very significant factor impacting margin one way or the other. Then it really came down to operating leverage offsetting mix. Mix was really pulled down as is typical because we're talking sequential quarter over here. We're not talking year-on-year. If you were talking year-on-year, then you're fundamentally seeing 200 basis points, 280 basis points of improvement. Because same time last year, you would have also been faced with the marriage market context that was skewed towards commuter motorcycles. Because you're talking Q4 to Q1, there is a relative skew towards commuter motorcycles driven by the marriage season. That, along with augmented volumes on Chetak, and a slight mix impact on the export of premium motorcycles.
has led to the adverse gross margin. Like I said, as we move forward, because you don't have the seasonality of that marriage context, I don't really see significant concern from a margin standpoint, because commodities, as I said, are relatively stable, as in the currency as well.
Got it, sir. Price hikes, if you have taken any after the first quarter?
Well, I'd say very insignificant. I can't recall anything which is of material impact at the moment. We may have done a correction, you know, in some states, slightly more to just correct price value equation, but nothing of significant note or material note, Siddharth.
Got it. , sir.
At least what I want you to register is, given the commodity cost context at the moment, we're not seeing the need, pressing need for us to take pricing to cover commodity cost inflation, not at this point of time.
Okay, got it. For export markets, like you have said, you have made several interventions to sort of manage the demand. Any price corrections did we do, or it's largely entirely on the currency improvement and other factors and not much on the pricing side?
Well, see, our approach is, that we cannot deal with the macroeconomics of currency devaluation through change in FOB pricing, because that just doesn't work out. If there have been any pricing changes, they've been more in response to a competitive situation or, an opportunity to improve, rather than to the macroeconomic condition. We will continue with that approach.
Got it, sir. Last question on the Triumph side. You said that, we plan to expand from 17 to maybe 50 locations in the next few months. Possible to highlight what percentage of the addressable market is this covering, and how the ramp-up will happen after that?
Sir, by end of this year, we will be covering about almost about 60% of the addressable market through at least one store in the location. We will decide, you know, at this point of time, we are making the plans as we go along, basis each quarter. We've got a line of sight for end of the year. In another three months, we'll have a rolling plan, which sort of addresses the, you know, quarter one of next year. At this point of time, our planning horizon is really for FY 2024 only, for which I gave you the numbers.
Got it, sir. Thanks a lot. I'll come back to you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pramod Kumar from UBS. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hi, Rakesh, and Dinesh, congratulations on a great launch and good set of results. My first question is pertaining to the Triumph launch. You guys have been sharing the booking numbers, and they look encouraging, but what I was looking for was more color on the customer profile, what you're attracting, just to ensure that it's not kind of cannibalizing your existing KTM portfolio or the Dominar portfolio. Just if you can share some color on the kind of customers you're getting, how would you describe them? How much could be the risk of cannibalization within your own portfolio?
Hi, Pramod. The, I must at the outset confess that we have not done a deep dive into the analysis of these bookings which we have received, but basis the qualitative inputs which we have received through sample discussions, is that this is an absolutely new set of customers. They are not really, you know, they're very, they're not really from the heartland of, let's say, the Pulsar community. They come, the majority of them are coming from the heartland of the 250-500 cc segment aspirants.
Okay. Rakesh, I don't know if you forgive me, if you already shared this during the opening comment. We've been shuffling between two calls actually here. If you can just help us understand what any quantitative timeline on the ramp-up as to by when do you expect to hit milestones like, say, 5,000 units or any timeline you have, which are on the production side, if you have shared that already or if you're willing to share, please.
You mean to say for Triumph?
For Triumph, sir. Yeah, yeah. Sorry.
Yeah.
For Triumph, yeah.
Yeah, I mentioned it, Pramod, but no worry. We are hoping that this quarter, most likely by end, by the, by September, we are aiming for 3, 5,000 units, and exports get added on from October. We will decide the ramp-up for October, November, December, by next month. You know, the plant capacity in Chakan 2 is about 25,000 units per month. This is fungible between KTM and Triumph, and basis, the kind of buildup which we are seeing, we will continue to add to the capacity.
I just want to say that we are really not looking for a vertical takeoff, either in network expansion, nor in, plant capacities. Because our objective is to really put in place processes and capabilities, we deliver an outstanding build quality in the product, and we deliver an outstanding and differentiated customer experience because we see an opportunity in both these things. Therefore, I mean, it's very easy to ramp up the plant capacity because we have 25,000 units per month, capacity, ramping up the vendors, which is required. We are sort of taking it in a very phased manner, both on setting up stores and increasing production.
Rakesh, clearly, demand has surprised you on the upside, and that's good to hear. On the export side, can you just help us understand how big is the addressable market for a product like this? Because it will be interesting to know, will the opportunity be bigger in the domestic market, or it could be equally big on the international side? Will the pricing be pricing strategy be led by Bajaj, or how does that work, sir?
In the international markets, the assessment of the opportunity is going to be done by Triumph. This is an absolutely new segment in most of these markets for Triumph and for Triumph dealers internationally. In India, we have the benefit of this segment already existing, and of course-
Yeah.
It is very visible, and it is perhaps the largest market in the world for this. We will get to know about this market and our reach in this market internationally in due course of time. Again, the whole idea is to start with some few set of countries, then we will ramp it up. We will build that as we go along, because it requires a little bit of assessment. On the pricing front, the pricing is led by Triumph in their markets. Of course, there is a consultation, but really the lead person is Triumph. Like it is for Indian market, the lead is with us, of course, in consultation with Triumph.
Great. Great. On the electric three-wheeler, we see that you already started dispatching some numbers in select states. Just if you can help us understand, how is the pricing, because I don't think there was any public press release of filing by you guys. If you can just help us understand, how are you price that particular the passenger and the cargo variants, and what are the key specs, and how is the customer response, because what we are seeing is that your CNG three-wheeler portfolio is also doing very, very well. Right?
Just wanted to understand how is the response to the electric three-wheeler side. Given your assessment so far, do you expect any rapid transition to electric three-wheelers within your portfolio, or it's going to be more CNG-led for the near to medium term?
Pramod, we launched the passenger electric version in Agra, which is an important market for the passenger, and we launched the cargo version in Pune. Just to ensure that we capture all the use cases in the field and we ensure that, you know, we deliver a very reliable and a stable product when we scale up. We have received an outstanding response, particularly on the passenger side, which is the larger opportunity. On the most important aspect, which is the range, because the commercial driver, for him, range is very important because that's how they max their daily earnings, and it has exceeded expectations. We are very happy that we have not encountered any big issues in all the other parameters.
There are certain niggling things here and there, which we have to fix. We earlier had a plan that we probably keep it at a very low key for 3-6 months, but this has given us confidence that we can scale up earlier. We will start to, you know, scale up in a phased manner from September onwards itself, I think. We'll take the final call, you know, August first week or something like that. However, and we will first attack the markets where ICE, including CNG, is not permitted. Out of 700, out of 1,000 RTOs in India, about 300 have restrictions or partial restrictions.
We will attack these 300 first, because this gives us entry into a market which is not there, where we don't have any access right now.
Okay. On pricing, Rakesh, how are the priced, vis-a-vis your CNG portfolio?
Yeah, I was just digging out so that I can give you the exact pricing. Sorry, what did you say? How is the pricing of the CNG-
Compared to the CNG and the other alternative fuel, vehicles.
more or more, you know, it's about INR 3 lakhs and INR 2 lakhs, kind of a thing. INR 3 lakhs for the electric, passenger and INR 2 lakhs, for the CNG, vehicle.
Okay, perfect. Can I?
This is ESRP, post FAME.
The INR 3 lakh 6,000 ESRP post FAME and our passenger is INR 233.
Okay. Our last one on the margin trajectory, now that exports have started to see some progress, led by Africa. The fact that the model mix will have its own impact because of that. How should Dinesh, we look at profitability, which has been quite solid actually at these levels? How should one look at profitability going forward for the company? Especially given that there will be EV volumes as well, which may not be that margin accretive or potentially negative margin. How should one look at the profitability trajectory from here on, Dinesh?
Yeah, Pramod. Let's, let's look ahead. I think price versus cost, you just had, you know, heard me mention that, on the price versus cost equation, I think it's all right, because commodity is not requiring us to look at pricing. Of course, we look at pricing if at all there are opportunities, you know, that come our way, given the competitive positioning. Let me say price versus cost seems well balanced out at the moment. You've got to look at the two other factors, which is essentially operating leverage. As business builds back, as volumes grow, and as revenues start to build back, there's an element of operating leverage that will come in.
Yes, there could be a potential drive on mix coming in from our stated ambition and aspiration to grow the EV Chetak, and as exports and boxes start to come back. There could be mixed headwinds that we will see as we look forward, but we will also hope to see some amount of operating leverage that will come in, you know, as business starts to build back. On balance, I'd say that the margin situation is something that we will need to continue to manage and look to delivering at these levels, whilst we navigate some amount of mixed headwinds.
hoping that part of that gets managed through operating leverage while we dynamically manage the price versus cost equation.
Thanks a lot, Dinesh. Thanks, Rakesh. Wish you guys all the best. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. The next question is on the line of Rama Prakash from State Bank of India. Please go ahead.
Hello, good evening. Congratulations on an excellent result.
Sorry to interrupt. Ms. Prakash, we are unable to hear you clearly. Can you speak a bit louder?
Good evening. I'm Manjari from State Bank of India. Congratulations on the excellent result. I just wanted to understand what is the % of electric vehicles component of the sales at present? What is the expected percentage company is looking at for the end of the year?
[Inaudible]
Let me take that up. Just to give you... I think, since your audio line was very faint, I just want to restate the question. Your question was, what is the percentage of electric vehicles in our current portfolio mix, and what would we like to see it in the course of towards the end of the year? I'd like to give you a sense, Manjari, I think, you know, to give you a sense, we currently have sold about 20,000 units of Chetak, which is, you know, and a few hundred of our electric three-wheelers that we just launched. On balance, that's about 2% when you look at it in the context of about 1 million units that we sell per quarter. Right?
Current run rate is 2%, electric vehicles, pretty much, most of it, electric two-wheelers, a few hundred, like I said, of three-wheelers. Where do we expect to see it by the end of the year? Look, I think there's a significant reset that has happened on the subsidy on the FAME subsidy policy, effective 1st of June. We need to wait and see the new normal on this market and as it emerges. You know, had it not been for this, our internal aspiration would have been to try and get this to a milestone of about 10,000 units of Chetak per month, which essentially would have meant about 30,000 units of Chetak by the end of the year.
Of course, depending on the very encouraging response that we've received on the electric three-wheeler to start looking to expand out, essentially quarter three onwards. Anywhere between, you know, let's say 3%-4% is what we would have liked to have seen it by the end of the year, doubling from the current 2%. Like I said, there is the new subsidy regime. There's a new normal that has to emerge. When you look at the EV market volumes from Vahan, let's say, for as an example, July run rates at the moment, on EV two-wheelers, looks very different from what it did in that pre-subsidy regime change era. We need to wait and see how that plays out.
Let me leave you with the thought of saying we'd like to, you know, it could be anywhere between 2%-4%.
Okay. Thank you very much, sir, and wish you all the best. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is on the line of Mitul Shah from DAM Capital. Please go ahead. Mitul, your line is in the talk mode. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my question is on export side, on a medium to longer term perspective. As we understand, there are lots of uncertainties in various markets, so next two or three quarter. We will see the volumes, which we have peak level of volumes, which we have seen in past few years. What is your understanding in terms of whether it will come back by end of this financial year or next year? Or it may be even like more than two years kind of a situation because of the lot of industry dynamics change in all those markets.
Second question, if you can give more details, whether it's a question related to the affordability of this consumer because of the price hike, what kind of a price hike we have taken, due to this material cost in last one and a half year, or it is a question of Forex primarily? These are the two questions, sir.
Like I mentioned in the opening remarks, that the recovery is seems to be on its way now, both from when you look at the data, which was suggesting that, you know, we have a growth in retail terms in quarter one over quarter four. Sequentially, we are seeing a recovery. Qualitatively speaking, also, what we are getting from, to know from the market, that demand is coming back. Third point is that Forex availability, things like confirmation of letters of credit, et cetera, are also improving. All this is happening at a gradual pace. It is not suddenly exploding, and we expect this gradual pace to continue. There's nothing to suggest that there will be a sudden jump in demand or in availability of foreign exchange.
Therefore, you know, at its peak, two, three years ago, we were hitting a run rate of 200,000 units per month. We are today at 140, which will sort of grow in a gradual manner, and I cannot say the timeline when it will exactly reach 200. I will just say one last thing on this, is that in most of the markets, the fundamental drivers of demand are intact. The demographics, the current penetration, which in many parts of Africa and Latin America is in single digits compared to triple digits in India, the urbanization, the construction of the road network, and the gap between the requirement for mobility and what public transport is giving. Within the macroeconomics allows, I think that we will see a period of big expansion.
Exactly when it will come is very difficult to understand. We just want to be in position to harness it when it really starts to move on. In terms of the pricing, yes, inflation and local currency devaluation have increased the prices. That is one of the things which has tempered demand. Over a period of time, we have seen, like we've seen in India also, like, you know, demand takes a few quarters to start to come back. I mean, we had an issue of COVID in the middle. If you see that the prices in India have gone up by 35%-40% over a period of three years. Then the, you know, it gets digested, salaries get adjusted. Then, you know, people start to accept the new pricing.
That process is also underway. A lot of the African markets are commercial, so they have to adjust their ticket prices to their customers, and those customers have to accept it on the basis of their own incomes increasing. That process is on, and it takes a while, but I think, I mean, it should, it has happened before, and I think it will, happen again.
Thanks, sir. Lastly, among these three key geographies, one is Latin America, second one is Africa, Middle East, and third one is ASEAN. Which part of this do you think to recover faster among all these three, and will come back soon?
The recovery, the drop in Africa was far sharper, and the recovery, when you compare, purely percentage terms, the recovery of Africa is higher. The drop in Latin America was lower, and therefore, the recovery is also smaller. Like I said, in the opening remarks, Q1 retails of the industry are very similar to Q4 retails in Latin America. In Africa, they were 14% up this quarter compared to last quarter. No, of course, they're still below the previous peaks. ASEAN was, I think it's a temporary dislocation, ASEAN. Actually, ASEAN, which is very, most of it is Philippines for us. ASEAN really didn't drop. It is only this registration process which has changed things for a quarter, which has impacted the retails. Fundamentally, ASEAN did not drop. I expect in another one, two months, ASEAN will, led by Philippines, will come back.
Thanks, and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is on the line of Amit Hiranandani from SMIFS Limited. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Just a few questions and, three questions from my side. Sir, how many launches we are expecting from the Triumph side in the next three years?
How do you see the overall product mix for the company in the midterm?
We've launched two models, and in the next one year or so, we will launch one or two more models, and we will continue with this pace. Of course, as you know, we have to keep adjusting the cycle to how the market is evolving. You can assume that, you know, a model with its variants, almost at the rate of one per annum, will be added to the portfolio. I have not understood what is the nature of your specific query when you ask for product mix. Domestic motorcycles, if you just are inquiring about the motorcycle business, like I said, 70% of our mix is now coming from 125 cc plus. It was about 60% one year back.
It is 70% in quarter one, and I think it will continue to increase over there.
Basically, mix, I wanted to understand whether, you know, whether three-wheeler domestic will increase or, you know, three-wheeler export will increase. That mix, I'm basically looking for it.
In the overall scheme of things, as you know, the export mix is reduced, because of, all the conditions which we have discussed. If you are particularly asking for three-wheelers, domestic three-wheelers has seen a strong resurgence, and on the back of the industry, recovering very well, and our market share going up from progressively from 70% to the current 80%. The three-wheeler in the portfolio, is of course, improved, and will continue to.
Yeah. Just last two questions. How much was the price reduction taken in the exports market? Lastly, if you can, you know, give us guidance on the any new product launches we are expecting in the motorcycle side.
There is no across-the-board price reduction taking place. In fact, there have been price increases whenever, in the last six months, if I look at. There may have been, you know, we may have responded to some competitive maneuvers in specific countries, but I wouldn't say that there has been a price reduction in export market. I just mentioned to another person in the forum that we have not used FOB pricing, at least to deal with the devaluation. Sorry, go to the next one.
Motorcycle launches.
Yeah, the motorcycle launches immediately. We expect in the next three, four months to add to the Pulsar portfolio by a couple of launches, and that sort of will continue over the next over in Q4 as well.
All right, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraint, that was the last question. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Anand Newar for his closing comments.
Thank you, Lizanne. Thank you everyone for joining the call. There are just few numbers that sort of get discussed every time after the call. I'm just reading them out for your information. The spares revenue was clocked somewhere north of 1,200 crores, split between domestic and exports in the ratio of 80 to 20, with dollar exports in the north of about $400, or $400 million. Thank you so much. Thank you for attending the call.
Thank you. Have a good evening.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, members of the management team. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Bajaj Auto Limited, that concludes this conference call. We thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.