India's Bajaj Auto flags lower-than-planned EV output on rare earth magnet crunch

Bajaj Auto will not meet its electric vehicle delivery target in the second quarter as the homegrown two-wheeler giant is grappling with a shortage of rare earth magnets. The company estimates that it will be able to deliver about 50-60 per cent of its electric two-wheeler plans in this quarter. This comes as the entire auto industry is facing a crunch of rare earth magnets.

Bajaj Auto's CFO Dinesh Thapar said in a post-earnings call that the OEM is working on a host of alternatives to soften the production blow, including using motors made with more abundant light rare earths, rather than heavy rare earths. "At this point in time, it looks like we might be able to deliver about 50-60 per cent of our electric two-wheeler plan for this quarter and about 70-80 per cent of the electric three-wheeler plan," he said. Thapar also added that Bajaj should be in a position to de-risk itself from China's rare earth magnet export ban by March this year.

China, which controls more than 90 per cent of the global production of rare earth magnets, banned the export of this critical material in April this year. This move forced the automakers, including Bajaj Auto's peer TVS Motor Company, to search for alternatives amid a scramble for supplies.

The EV output slump at India's second-largest electric scooter manufacturer comes at a time when most automakers boost production during a lucrative festive period that begins late August. Speaking on this, Thapar said that even if Bajaj unlocks a lot of supply after this, there's certainly likely to be an impact in terms of the festive loading that the company would have liked.

Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto beat quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday, helped by a boost in exports as it resumed overseas shipments of its premium KTM motorcycles. The automaker also attributed the higher profit to improving margins at its e-scooter business Chetak and electric three-wheeler Gogo. Bajaj Auto reported a profit of 20.96 billion rupees ($239 million) for the April-June period, while analysts had expected 20.42 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

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