Bajaj Auto two-wheeler sales dip 12% in August 2025, exports cushion fall

Bajaj Auto reported total sales of 4,17,616 units in August 2025, marking a 5 per cent year-on-year increase from 3,97,804 units in the same month last year. The growth was driven primarily by exports, which rose sharply even as domestic demand remained subdued.

The company’s two-wheeler sales stood at 3,41,887 units, a marginal rise of 2 per cent. Within this, domestic sales declined 12 per cent to 1,84,109 units, while exports climbed 25 per cent to 1,57,778 units. The divergence underscores how overseas markets are playing a bigger role in stabilising volumes amid a slowdown in Indian demand.

Commercial vehicles maintain momentum

Bajaj Auto’s commercial vehicle (CV) segment continued its robust run, with sales climbing 21 per cent year-on-year to 75,729 units. Exports rose a significant 58 per cent to 27,440 units, while domestic CV sales grew 7 per cent to 48,289 units.

This has been a consistent trend through the year, with the company leveraging strong traction in markets across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The export push has also helped soften the impact of relatively flat demand in India’s small CV space.

Year-to-date sales edge higher

For the first five months of the fiscal (April–August 2025), Bajaj Auto reported total sales of 18,94,853 units, up 2 per cent from 18,54,029 units a year earlier.

Two-wheeler volumes remained flat at 15,86,925 units as domestic sales dropped 11 per cent, offset by an 18 per cent rise in exports. Commercial vehicle sales, however, grew 14 per cent to 3,07,928 units, aided by a 47 per cent jump in exports.

Rajiv Bajaj on GST Ruling Delays and Cost Pressures

Beyond numbers, Bajaj Auto’s leadership injected some real-world urgency into the conversation. Company MD Rajiv Bajaj sharply criticised the government’s revised 18 percent GST on two-wheelers, calling it “still very high", especially when compared to global peers in ASEAN or Latin America, where GST-equivalent rates hover between 8 to 14 per cent. His point: a lower rate would reduce cost pressure on first-time buyers and rural customers.

He also implored all two-wheelers, irrespective of engine capacity or fuel type, to be compressed into a single 18 percent slab. Pointing to the distortions arising out of differential taxation, he expressed concern that policy sophistication is leading consumers to shy away from higher-capacity bikes and tilting automaker portfolios.

GST isn’t the only issue. Bajaj Auto is wrestling with delays in state-level EV incentive disbursements, notably in Maharashtra, where reimbursements due to the company are lagging—even though these incentives were passed on to customers. The situation, he argued, hits cash flows and poses a risk to retail momentum in the fast-growing EV segment.

The August figures confirm what insiders had been whispering: Indian consumers are holding back, while global demand keeps the wheels turning. Against this backdrop, Rajiv Bajaj’s comments become more than rhetoric, they’re a clear-eyed statement of the cost realities facing manufacturers and consumers.

A delayed GST ruling, whether on two-wheelers, cleaner-fuel vehicles, or EVs, simply adds layers of uncertainty. Add to that the slow-moving incentive disbursements, and what begins as policy fatigue inches toward fiscal risk. Bajaj’s voice here is not just advocacy, it’s the practical mindfulness of someone steering shipping-stressed machinery through choppy, regulatory waters.

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