Six new bikes from Bajaj in 2009

As many as nine new models will roll out of the Babaj Auto assembly line in the next nine months.

The two wheeler major is mulling over launching six two-wheeler models among the total nine planned. The company said that the remaining three would be three-wheelers. The company based at Pune in Maharashtra could see through the troubled economic climate if the new models debut as per plans.

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Bajaj Auto, which saw its net plummet by around 23 per cent to Rs 164 crore during the third quarter ended December 2008, hopes to come back to major position with the launch of the new models. One consolation it had during the quarter was that its stock price posted a 4 per cent rise. Operating margins were boosted with 14.5 percent of sales as compared to 2.5 per cent in the previous year, making the company believe that its product mix with a high margin of 125cc motorcycles resulted in the rise in sales.

In its bid to contain expenditure, Bajaj Auto is also gearing up for a year of cost cut this year. It is said to be thinking on the lines of saving a considerable amount of monety by slashing raw material prices. The company hopes to save Rs 1000 per bike, said a report. Besides this, it is also looking at saving an addition amount, close to Rs 24 crore, that comes in from exports. This could mean that Bajaj Auto would be able to save Rs 50 crore during the next quarter with reduced raw material cost and increasing exports.

The company which filed the numbers to the BSE has said in the document that corresponding to a decline in sales, the profit fell to Rs 2,103.10 crore at 15.91 per cent against a figure of Rs 2,501.25 crore posted over the same period last year.