Bajaj Auto Limited (NSE: BAJAJ-AUTO) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Jan. 28, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Anand Newar — Head, Investor Relations
Rakesh Sharma — Executive Director
Dinesh Thapar — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Chandramouli Muthiah — Analyst
Gunjan Prithyani — Analyst
Raghunandhan NL — Analyst
Amyn Pirani — Analyst
Jinesh Gandhi — Analyst
Vipul Agrawal — Analyst
Pramod Kumar — Analyst
Kapil Singh — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q3 FY 2025 Results Conference Call of Bajaj Auto Limited. My name is Nirav, and I’ll be your coordinator. [Operator Instructions] And there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the initial remarks from the management. [Operator Instructions]
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Anand Newar. Head, Investor Relations from Bajaj Auto Limited. Thank you. And over to you, Mr. Newar.
Anand Newar — Head, Investor Relations
Thanks, Nirav. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Bajaj Auto’s Q3 FY ’25 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, and Dinesh will take you through the financial highlights. We will then open the forum for the Q&A.
Over to you, sir.
Rakesh Sharma — Executive Director
Thank you, Anand. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Q3 earnings call, and thank you very much for joining us. But let me begin by wishing all of you good health, happiness, and prosperity in 2025.
As expected by us, quarter three was a very good quarter with several milestones being achieved. Volumes of over 1.2 million, a shade above the Q2 performance. Revenue of almost INR13,000 crores, EBITDA of INR2,500 crores, and a PAT of INR2,000 crores. Besides these financials, we recorded our highest-ever market shares in the electric portfolio of both two-wheelers and three-wheelers. We crossed 500,000 of exports in a quarter after two years. We sold the highest ever Pulsars during festive, grew spares by 21%, and registered the best quarter for Triumph and KTM in India.
We also completed in this quarter the full establishment, the full rollout of Bajaj Auto Credit Limited across the entire Bajaj Auto. But most importantly, this is the fifth successive quarter of 20%-plus EBITDA and that too with a growing EV portfolio, which now stands at 22% of domestic revenue. In fact, our Green Energy portfolio comprising greener fuels of electric and CNG across two-wheelers and three-wheelers is at 44% of our domestic revenue.
Let us now discuss the highlights of each SBU. Exports, the BU grew volumes by 27% in quarter three, almost at double the rate of estimated market growth. Latin America is now the largest emerging market region in the world for motorcycles, almost twice the size of Africa in volume terms and at least 3 times in terms of value. BAL exports grew by over 40% in Latam in quarter three with a rich mix of over 60% of premium brands of Pulsars and Dominars.
The industry recorded growth in Q3 in all other regions, which is ASEAN, Asia and even Africa. In every single region, our exports growth was significantly ahead of the estimated industry growth. Nigeria retails remained steady through the quarter at 35,000 units per month level with a market share of over 55%. There are three other noteworthy points for our exports BU. The export performance was delivered despite an almost 50% drop in KTM exports due to the issues being faced by KTM overseas. In Q3, our exports of KTM brands constituted only 2% of total exports, down from their usual level of about 5% in FY ’24.
Secondly, the exports growth was over and above the destocking of the channel, particularly in Nigeria in the early part of the year to minimize exposure of channel partners. And thirdly, Bajaj Brazil recorded its highest-ever retail and production is now already at peak capacity. The Dominar brand has raced ahead of several established European brands in the personal segment. Management has approved a further expansion of capacity to 50,000 units plus level — per annum, which should be in place by the final quarter of FY ’26. Going forward, in export, we still need to be watchful of the currency-led volatility, particularly in South Asia and Africa, but barring that, we expect exports to continue to grow at 20%-plus levels on year-on-year basis.
Coming to domestic motorcycles, industry performance in Q3 was buffeted by a very good Diwali, which has lifted year-to-date performance of the industry to about 8%, up from the 6% or so growth being experienced till the end of H1 by the industry. Growth continues to be driven by the upper half of the industry, which is a 125cc+ segment, which is growing at over twice the rate of the 100cc segment. Even though the season saw substantial pricing and discount action, our market shares held steady in the strategically important top half with a clear number two position. However, there has been some erosion of our share in the bottom half as was expected because of staying away from the tactical pricing initiatives, which continue till date.
We have now also recalibrated our billing volumes to right-size channel inventories, particularly in the entry level. Going forward, growth rates should settle at the underlying trend normalized for the temporary highs, which are achieved in festive. The underlying trend suggests a near-term outlook of 6% to 8% growth in the industry with the 125cc+ segment growing faster than the 100cc segment as has been happening. To ensure we get a disproportionate share of this growth, we want to ensure continued excitement and interest of the customer.
Between December and March, we would have introduced nine new variants of our existing models in the 125cc+ segment. We believe doing this allows us to sub-segment the market and give the customers greater choice in feature sets as well as offer multiple price points for entry into the top half portfolio.
Freedom, the world’s first CNG motorcycle, continues its steady growth. Till date, we have retailed almost 50,000 bikes since the start in August. Customer adoption is good with the product delivering all benefits as were conceptualized, designed, and manufactured. We have expanded the range with one more variant, making it a portfolio of three, which should cover all segments of users from gig workers to long distance personal users.
We have seen a relatively faster adoption in areas where pump density is high, like say Delhi and Kerala, for example, and seen penetration rates go beyond 10% of the 125cc segment in such areas. In other areas or with customers where the per day usage levels are less, the savings in rupees per month is less and the adoption is lower as customers generally seek further validation of benefits. In quarter four, we will step up mass engagement with customers to drive awareness and familiarity for the Bajaj Freedom.
Commercial vehicles, the three-wheeler BU clocked its highest-ever retail of over 125,000 units in quarter three, of which 17,000 were electric vehicles. The electric vehicle market share grew from 13% in quarter three FY ’24 to over 35% in quarter three FY ’25. Our e-autos are now available in 800-plus locations, perhaps the widest distribution in the industry. The e-auto portfolio is now being brought under a separate brand, the Bajaj GoGo. The Bajaj GoGo encapsulates the values of latest tech combined with the trust of decades.
We intend to expand the EV portfolio next month, which should drive up the market shares to leadership levels. By the end of this financial year, we also intend to launch a modern e-rick, which will set an absolutely new standard in the segment and bring a very high level of satisfaction to both the owners and passengers. The e-rick segment is almost as large as the auto segment and the new e-rick should generate new business for the BU.
The ICE business maintains its rock-solid performance with an overall market share of 75%-plus. Going forward, we expect the L5 industry to continue to grow at 4% to 6% levels, primarily driven by increasing penetration of EVs. We expect to outpace the industry’s EV growth while maintaining our strong leadership in ICE.
Chetak business unit. The arc of Chetak’s performance has been the steepest in the industry from a market share of 13% in quarter three FY ’24, Chetak has clocked a market share of 22% in quarter three, a rise of almost 10 percentage points. This momentum of market share acquisition should increase further with the launch of the 35 platform, which happened in end December. The new platform provides us the best Chetak yet with a higher range, advanced displays, faster charging, and best-in-class boot space, combined with the already popular elegant styling and robust build quality.
The already introduced two variants should make a strong play for higher market share in the upper half of the EV segment where our presence has been relatively weak. The new series will also have a very positive impact on the bottom line too. A major swing into the profitability zone will be achieved in Q4 as the 35 series acquired scale beginning February. The combination of the new platform which will be further expanded in this quarter, the continually expanding exclusive stores now over 250 and wider distribution to over 3,000 sales points will continue to drive the business towards a stronger leadership position and on a profitable basis.
Pro-biking, both brands, KTM and Triumph, had a very good Q3 with Triumph recording its best-ever quarter. The refreshed KTM Dukes, the 200 and the 250, have been received very well and quarter four should see a further product refresh in the adventure segment. In Triumph, the new T4, the Speed T4, pulled in new customers and now all three models which is the Speed T4, the Speed 400, and the Scrambler 400 are demonstrating good growth. Even as we steadily expand the Triumph network, our focus remains on top towns to drive share. We’ll further refresh the Speed range in Q4 to keep the growth momentum going.
Finally, a quick word on our — on two of our new 100% subsidiaries. BACL, our captive finance company, has completed its pan-India rollout ahead of schedule, and as of end Q3, it is serving the entire two-wheeler and three-wheeler business of Bajaj Auto in India with a 70%-plus share of financing at our stores. Even as the rollout was completed, we are delighted to report that BACL posted a profit in quarter three.
BATL, which is Bajaj Auto Technology limited, the erstwhile Chetak Technology Limited has been renamed as Bajaj Auto Technology Limited and repurposed to be a pure technology company. With the rapid and diverse developments unfolding in the tech space, it was felt that we needed a singular focus to build capabilities in cutting-edge tech, particularly in EVs but not restricted to them. BATL will develop new tech in areas like electronics, electric powertrains, controls, hybrids and fuel cells, software, and will also spearhead cutting-edge design and offer these for the use of Bajaj Auto Limited and its partners. BATL is now fully operational and already employs over 500 people. Source of BATL revenue will be the royalty from its IP and charges for other services rendered to Bajaj Auto Limited and its partners.
In conclusion, going forward, our imperatives are to continue to build share in the 125cc+ segment through steady expansion of Freedom and leveraging the expanded lineup for Pulsars, KTMs, and Triumphs. We will scale up the new Chetak 35 series platform with production increasing February onwards to gain share in the upper half of the two-wheeler EV segment. Similarly, we will drive for leadership in the e-auto segment through the expanded range. We will ensure steady turnaround in recovering overseas markets and will go aggressively in steadier markets like Latam. Underlying all this, we will continue to optimize growth and profitability to deliver better shares while retaining best-in-class profitability. On this basis, we hope to conclude an outstanding financial year ’25.
With this, I would like to hand it over to Dinesh.
Dinesh Thapar — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Rakesh. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Since this is the first interaction in the new year, let me take this opportunity to wish each of you a very happy and prosperous new year.
Coming to the quarter, I think this time around, as you would have made out from the headlines, we are particularly pleased by the performance of our Green Energy portfolio in the domestic business, the rebound of our exports business, and quite clearly, the underlying profit performance. The Green Energy portfolio is trending towards being nearly half of our domestic business. You’ve heard some detail from Rakesh. And more notably within that, the electric portfolio, which continues to expand meaningfully, recorded sales of almost 100,000 units yet again with leading competitive positions on both electric two-wheelers and electric three-wheelers. And I’m sure with these results you will recognize this to be significant progress from where we started out 18 to 24 months back, and a clear testament to the focused strategy and committed execution that we have behind the space.
Exports are making a steady and sure foot comeback with a broad-based step up across regions and while Latam continues on its strong momentum, I think what’s particularly heartening is that Africa has come to the growth party this time with Nigeria delivering over 100,000 units in the quarter, more than double over the last quarter. And that’s quite heartening because we haven’t seen these numbers from Nigeria in quite a while.
And finally, we’ve been able to hold margin at 20.2% yet again. Our margins have been at this level, give or take a few bps for the last six quarters, right from 19.8% all the way to 20.2% during this intervening period. And yes, we are managing the P&L quite dynamically to deliver this while continuing to invest significantly behind our strategic thrust. Don’t forget that the electric portfolio has grown 2.5 times over what it was the same time last year and yet we’ve continued to deliver both top line and bottom line growth in tandem.
Now, before I get to the numbers, let me spend some time on the operating context that influences our performance. Rakesh has already given you a comprehensive overview of the market, so I’ll focus my commentary on the two elements of commodity and currency. The commodity basket for the quarter ended rather flattish in net terms with the pluses and minuses quite balancing out. There was sharp inflation in rubber and a moderate uptick that we saw in ABS, polypropylene, and platinum. But that was offset by a softer metals complex led most notably by steel and a little bit of nickel and lead, in part.
Coming to pricing. In this context, I think the only notable pricing that we took down this time was an investment that we made into taking down pricing, and I say sequentially, on our electric three-wheeler really to drive our competitive position and product penetration as we expanded to a national footprint of the 800 plus touch points. On the rest of the portfolio, I’d say the net impact of price changes, both pluses and minuses, or upwards and downwards, as you see them on the quarter, was broadly minimal.
Currency continued to be a tailwind given the movement of the dollar, INR. For the quarter, the dollar realization stood at about 84.3, compared to 83.8 in the previous quarter, and 83.2 in the same period last year. And exports for the quarter was 505 million — 5-0-5. So that should give you a sense of the impact of currency.
Coming to the results, we’ve reported the standalone revenues of INR12,807 crores, up 6% year-on-year. And to really put that growth year-on-year in perspective, a third of it came from volumes, a quarter of it from better price and currency realizations, and the rest from mix. Underpinning the mix number, among others, is another record quarter on spares as it crossed the INR1,500 crores mark for the very first time. So that’s quarterly spares of over INR1,500 crores for the very first time.
I must add that mix was severely impacted by the call that we had to take in the immediate term on lowering KTM exports given the current state of flux and the ongoing restructuring process in Austria that many of you are familiar with, and the fact that PIERER Mobility is public, you would have heard a lot about it. Had it not been for the short-term setback on KTM exports, our revenue growth would have been nearing double-digit and EBITDA growth even much higher in the teens given the margin accretive business that is.
Coming to EBITDA for the quarter, we reported another quarter in excess of INR2,500 crores at INR2,581, up 6% year-on-year. And as I mentioned, I think more notable, this growth would have been in the mid-teens had it not been for the KTM exports factor. Margins held steady and resilient at the 20%-plus levels, and I must say we are quite pleased at how we’ve been managing that. Year-on-year, EBITDA margins have improved about 10 basis points while commodity costs remained largely flattish. Judicious pricing and a favorable currency environment has helped offset the impact of an adverse profit mix, primarily driven by the lower exports of KTM, as I mentioned.
Most notably, given that the volumes and revenue of the electric portfolio have more than doubled over same time last year, the impact on margin has been neutral as cost reductions and PLI accruals have offset the impact of the competitive-led price reductions that we’ve taken and expansion of the portfolio and the scale that we’ve grown with it. While on this, I must add that our R&D and procurement teams have done some impressive work on the EV-related costs.
You would recall that we had mentioned in our last call that the EV portfolio comprising of both electric two-wheelers and electric three-wheelers had achieved a combined break-even at the EBITDA level in totality, and now at a unit level, which is essentially the unit level economics, while the electric three-wheelers were in any case profitable. With the launch of the new Chetak platform, the 35 series that we launched in December, unit economics for the new Chetak models is now seeing line of sight on an EBITDA breakeven. So unit economics.
Of course, work is underway to introduce a few more models in quarter four and quarter one on this new platform, each designed with both superior functionality and improved cost structures. And of course, where the margin eventually settles and how much of this benefit will eventually flow into the results will be a function of how and where market pricing settles and competitive actions play out. But you will agree that this is a significant step forward that stands this business in good stead, given our larger ambition of scale in the space.
Profits after tax on a standalone basis came in at over INR2,100 crores for the quarter and consolidated profits at nearly INR2,200 crores. Within this, as you heard from Rakesh, of noteworthy mention is the progress that we made on the captive financing arm, Bajaj Auto Credit Limited, which has turned profitable in its very first year of operations. Further, the business has now completed its national rollout and presence across the BAL network well ahead of schedule. in many ways a reflection of the disciplined execution and operational rigor that has gone behind it.
In terms of numbers, at the end of December, this entity, which is the new Bajaj Auto Credit Limited entity, has financed nearly 520,000, 520,000 vehicles, and built up an AUM of a little over INR7,000 crores. Alongside, the team is also strongly focused on building core capabilities for the business around digitally enabled processes, interactions, seamless customer journeys, compliance, risk management and collections, which will enable the aspiration that we have for this business and support its scale up. That should start to kick in from the upcoming quarter itself now that the staggered rollout has been completed.
Quickly, a word on cash. With our consistent track record of cash generation, we closed the quarter with surplus cash of INR15,000 crores. It’s also worth noting that in the first nine months of FY ’25, we’ve generated INR3,000 crores of free cash flow, reflecting our strong track record of converting profit to cash. Over the same period, we strategically invested approximately INR1,600 crores into the financing subsidiary to support its nationwide expansion and about INR450 crores towards capex, of which, I’d say, two-thirds went behind the electric portfolio.
Looking ahead, you’ve heard from Rakesh, we remain very closely focused on our strategic priorities, competitive growth in the important 125cc motorcycle segment, building scale for new launches on Freedom and Triumph, a closer commitment to grow the electric portfolio to even larger numbers both on Chetak and electric three-wheelers, supported by the new product upgrades and innovation that has been put out, continue to stay the course on recovering our exports business, which, in many ways, has led to the performance of this quarter, and sustaining margins while dynamically managing P&L and continuing to invest behind the strategic growth enablers that we’ve been talking about.
Quickly on commodity costs, the landscape looking out ahead, I think we’re looking at very slight inflation led by alloys in a few miscellaneous categories. But like I said, it is slight inflation. Steel and other metals look balanced, but I think what we need to watch out and see is really the noble metals, rhodium, palladium, and platinum, are all showing some signs of stiffness. But we need to see how and when this plays out.
Important to also note that quarter four will also see the start of the cost impact of complying with the OBD-2B norms that are effective from 1st of April and that will play out once billing starts, in many ways, for the most part, in the next month. Naturally, this will affect pricing and we will soon roll out our updated prices for our products that comply with these OBD-2B standards. Currency, you are familiar with, and as you would know, that should provide some tailwind.
With that, let me hand it over back to Anand and open up the floor to Q&A. Thank you very much.
Anand Newar — Head, Investor Relations
Thank you, Dinesh. Nirav, with this, we can open the forum for Q&A.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We’ll now begin with the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Chandramouli from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Chandramouli Muthiah
Hi, good evening, and thank you for taking my questions. My first question is on the export business. Prepared remarks that you had made that you have a line of sight on 20%-plus growth. So I just want to understand what time frame do you see that sort of growth for, and what are some of the markets or the products that are giving you the confidence on visibility on that sort of growth on exports going forward?
Rakesh Sharma
So Chandramouli, we — the growth outlook was for the near-term, like I said. I would not like to hazard very long-term guesses on this, given the uncertainty, the geopolitical uncertainty, the macroeconomic uncertainty, which are there all over the place, but we are taking it quarter-by-quarter. And we had said at the beginning of quarter three that we should be 20%-plus and we delivered 27%. And similarly, I feel for the next three to six months, most likely we will be in the 20%-plus zone. Beyond that, I really want to see how things pan out in the environment.
What is driving our growth is actually now with Africa sort of just coming back into little bit of growth and places like Nigeria also growing and are very, very solid position in Nigeria, which is over 55% share. So the single biggest driver is Latin America, where we’ve got excellent positions in all the key markets of Latin America. It’s the fastest growing and the single largest region.
We find that some of our other strong areas like Philippines, Bangladesh, a little bit of a return in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka motorcycle share is right now 80% albeit of a very small — I mean it’s nowhere near what it used to be. But that business has started to — also the market has started to grow. And like I said, continued performance in Africa. So it’s a very broad-based growth drivers across the board.
Chandramouli Muthiah
Got it. That’s helpful. My second question is just on the two points you mentioned around the e-rickshaw portfolio that’s likely to launch later this year as well as KTM, which was a drag this quarter on growth and profit. So just want to understand both factors. What are some of the comments you’d like to share on the scale of the e-rickshaw opportunity? Is it a launch in the end of the calendar year or in the end of the fiscal year? And just on KTM, just want to understand how long you expect for that business to potentially start contributing again in a normalized way.
Rakesh Sharma
The — like I said, we expect to launch the e-rick by end of this quarter. So let’s say, by end of the FY ’25 fiscal. It could be — by the time all the permissions are through, it may just spill over into the first week April or retail may spill over to the first week April or they may just commence by end of March even. It’s a sizeable opportunity. We don’t sell anything in it.
Almost 50% of three-wheeled mobility is in the e-rick space, which is north and east, little parts of west. Almost 45,000 e-ricks are retailed every month, and they come in various shapes and sizes. It’s a very fragmented market. A lot of it is import-dependent, a lot of it is substandard product. And we are hoping that — but it’s a very — it’s a good format for certain use cases. So the demand will — is there. And by introducing our e-rick, we hope to organize this market and bring in fresh new business for us. I guess we will start to see a real scale up in the first quarter of the new fiscal. We just introduce it.
And on KTM, see, KTM, we have to wait. We have to see — you know that there is an engagement process, self-administered, court-supervised process, which the current management has undertaken where they’re putting together a package for the reconstruction of the company. And I guess — and the great thing is that there is a very definitive timeline for that which is by 25th of February. And once that thing has been approved and accepted by all the stakeholders, we should see some kind of a revival. Till then, I think it would be patchy. So it is difficult to give you a precise month when this will unfold. But because it’s all very court-supervised and very clear timelines have been given on conclusion of the process, I think it should be sooner than later before the revival commences. But that depends on whether the package goes through and is accepted by all.
Chandramouli Muthiah
Got it. That’s helpful. Thank you very much, and all the best.
Operator
Thank you.
Rakesh Sharma
I would just point out that this — my comment about the KTM revival pertains largely to or only to the export of KTM from India to overseas market, which was being managed by the KTM AG companies. The Indian KTM business, which is almost 6,000 units odd, that goes — that there’s no problem with that because that is all produced in India and sold through our dealerships.
Chandramouli Muthiah
Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you very much. Next question is from line of Gunjan from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Gunjan Prithyani
Yeah, hi, thanks for taking my question. Just continuing with the three-wheeler segment, you did speak about expansion of the portfolio in quarter four on the three-wheeler side and some price interventions that you’ve made as you expand the distribution. Can you talk a little bit as to what use cases, and I’m assuming this three-wheeler expansion is independent of e-rickshaw. What use cases, and how does the price now sort of stack up versus competition? Because there’s clearly a lot of competition also coming from other players in the industry. So keen to hear your thoughts on both the product side as well as the pricing interventions that you’re making.
Rakesh Sharma
Well, on the product side, our e-auto, the passenger and cargo have both met with good success. In fact, in passenger auto, e-auto, our market share is I think around 37% and in the mid-20s in I think the cargo segment. And of course, the major segment is, of course, the e-auto segment. We are going to introduce a variant which is larger sized and which will allow more passengers and passengers plus cargo kind of application. We found that this need is there even in the electric.
We found that in the core urban areas, a smaller vehicle is preferred. But as you start to go into the suburban areas or the mofussil, smaller town areas, we find that a larger body vehicle is there. We already have a larger body vehicle in the ICE format, but now we are going to put it also in the e format. As we do that, it is very important to ensure that the performance of the product because there will be more passengers, there will be more cargo sitting on it. So things like its gradability, that is the kind of heights it can climb and the loads it can carry had to be really worked out. Those tests have been done. And we are very excited about the introduction of this product. Hope this will happen in this quarter, and which should then give us a good play into many geographies where we are — where our market share is relatively lower.
On pricing, what exactly sort of poses your question?
Gunjan Prithyani
I mean, have we brought down the prices to be — with the cost coming down? I mean, what’s driven the price intervention? I’m not clear. You spoke about it in your opening remarks.
Rakesh Sharma
Largely, it was in certain competitive areas where competition has taken action on reducing prices, particularly in places like Uttar Pradesh, etc. So we have matched that kind of a reduction.
Gunjan Prithyani
Okay. My second question is on the CNG business. Now, if I recall the commentary for last one or two quarters, clearly our expectation of scale up of this business was lot more aggressive than what it has played out so far, right? So I just wanted to hear your thoughts in terms of what is it we are doing in terms of accelerating the market creation because I think clearly this is a new segment, it’ll need lot more products, etc., from your side. So how do you see the business evolving? I’m not talking next two, three months, maybe over the next 12, 18 months portfolio, pricing, what else can we do to make this market bigger?
Rakesh Sharma
Yeah [Speech Overlap]
Gunjan Prithyani
This is CNG bike, Freedom.
Rakesh Sharma
Sorry?
Gunjan Prithyani
This is on the CNG bike, Freedom125.
Rakesh Sharma
Yes, I got that. Yeah, indeed, we were — we retained about 16,000 units in October, but then that is a festive month and people are more and more prone to try. Like I said, in my initial comment, there are two things which shape the development of this category. The product acceptance is very good. The support by the OMCs, the gas companies is excellent. The confidence level of the dealers, etc., is very good because there are many dealers who are suddenly starting to see a lot of sales happening. As you know, in the mileage-conscious segment, we have been a little bit — we are more on the performance-oriented segment. So they are seeing this as a new business.
But there are two things which drive the development of this business as we are understanding it as this thing is unfolding. One is, like I said, the density of the CNG network. We have found when there is density is, let’s say, 40 vehicles per pump kind of a level, the adoption rates are very high. But when the density goes down to, let’s say, 100 vehicles per pump kind of a level, the adoption rates almost half. And the reason for this is that if the pump availability is not convenient, then a considerable change in behavior is needed.
The second thing which shapes this, and which is linked to the first one, is how much money a person saves and how much is that money worth, taking all the troubles, etc. People who ride of the, let’s say, 45,000, 50,000 units which have been retailed, an overwhelming large proportion of that is people who are riding more than 70 kilometers per day, then the savings is quite substantial. But as you come down, and let’s say if you are riding about 40,000 — to bring the whole thing to life, let’s say, you are riding 40 kilometers per day, you are doing 25 days of riding, which is 1,000 kilometers. And the differential between, let’s say, a 125cc ICE bike operating cost and the CNG buy is almost a rupee. So you’re saving INR1,000 rupees a month.
Now, INR1,000 rupees a month, if the CNG network is very, very intense, people want to save that because there’s not too much of trouble. But if the CNG network is sparse, then people think twice whether they should undertake that change of behavior.
Now, this kind of a thing mitigates over a period of time as we make the product more familiar, as people get more confidence through word-of-mouth that indeed the saving is going to be there. So we see a — we don’t see an explosive growth. It started explosively, but now with decent word-of-mouth stepping in, we see a steady step-by-step growth. We are going to accelerate — do whatever it takes to accelerate this growth by having a whole lot of engagements both in terms of communication and direct engagement with customers on the ground and familiarize them with this.
We are also attacking some of the high usage cohorts, like gig workers, through some of the quick commerce, e-commerce and taxi fleet operators who — these are cohorts who are even riding up to 200, 250 kilometers a day and we are going to be focusing on them. So there is a whole lot of market development work. We feel very confident to undertake this market development work because the basic acceptance of the product is there. Now we have to dismantle the wait and watch attitude of the larger majority of customers, which will happen hopefully over a period of time.
Gunjan Prithyani
Okay, got it. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Raghunandhan NL from Nuvama Research. Please go ahead.
Raghunandhan NL
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Congratulations on the fifth quarter of 20% margin, shows the quality of growth sir. Sir, firstly on the new products, e-rickshaw is a major product. Apart from that, new products, variants in two-wheelers, what would you be focusing on for F ’26?
Rakesh Sharma
Well, like I explained, already between December and March, we will have nine different variants of the existing models. Like starting from — there’s an upgrade of the Pulsar RS200, which has hit the market. We are giving different feature sets which include digital consoles, LED headlamps, ABS, upside down forks, etc., at different price points. So it makes it very easy — instead of trying to second guess the customer, makes it very easy for the customer. Some people prefer upside down forks, some people don’t. And that should give us a very wide spectrum of offering.
As we go forward, we have got a very rich product pipeline, again, almost entirely in the 125cc+ segment right through the year, besides all what we are doing for three-wheelers. So that, as we come closer to the time, we will let you know. This is true for electric as well as for the ICE portfolio. It’s a very, very rich product pipeline and you’ll see every quarter one or two launches taking place.
Raghunandhan NL
Thank you for that, sir. And would you be considering investments in KTM considering the financial stress, any quantum which you have planned?
Dinesh Thapar
So Raghu, I think it’s a bit premature for us to comment on this because treat it in the nature of an M&A transaction. There’s a process which is being run at the moment. And since Pierer Mobility is a listed company, I don’t think it would be right for us to make any comments. You did hear Rakesh mention clearly, KTM business is of strategic importance for us and we, therefore, remain very strongly committed to it. But the financial considerations of where this will eventually go, I think, will play out over the next four weeks. So let’s hold comment till then. At suitable point of time when there is something to comment on, we’ll share it.
Raghunandhan NL
Fair point. Thank you, Dinesh. And Dinesh, if you can also share the net worth and profits for Bajaj Auto Credit?
Dinesh Thapar
Yeah. So I think this is the first quarter that Bajaj Auto Credit has delivered a profit. We will put out the full financials at the end of the next quarter which is the full financial year. But since you’ve asked, it is a INR52 crore profit for the quarter. But that may mean very little for you because I think you will obviously need to see the entire set of financials to understand it better.
But I thought, I’d give you a sense that the number of accounts that have been serviced up to now are 520,000 units. And remember, 520,000 accounts. Recognize that the rollout of Bajaj Auto Credit has happened in a staggered fashion starting from Jan of this year, and so therefore, it does not reflect the entirety of a steady operation as yet. But I think it is quite noteworthy to mention that essentially in its third quarter, it has yielded a profit this time around. Book size of about INR7000 crores, as I mentioned.
Raghunandhan NL
Thank you very much. Just a last question. For the budget, would you be expecting GST cuts in CNG?
Rakesh Sharma
Well, it is probably early days. When it goes up to the GST council, we have to wait and see when it is taking. The ministries, the SIAM, have made strong recommendations. Now it is up to the — it being taken up by the GST council. But just to let you know that there has been very positive recommendations from various ministries, which include, of course, our parent ministry which is the Ministry of Heavy Industries, but also Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Also, clearances by Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Road Transport who have endorsed the GST cut, not just on the CNG, but also on flex fuel and ethanol-based fuels for two-wheelers.
Raghunandhan NL
Thank you very much, sir. Wishing all the best.
Rakesh Sharma
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Amyn Pirani from JPMorgan Chase. Please go ahead.
Amyn Pirani
Yes, hi, thanks for the opportunity. My question is on the domestic two-wheeler volumes and market share. Now, if we look at the VAHAN share, and since that is the focus, it appears that if I look at your ICE volumes, it’s broadly been flattish vis-a-vis a growth in the industry. So is it — and because in VAHAN, obviously we can’t look at segments, so you obviously have a better idea than me do, is that mostly on account of, say, some voluntary decline in volumes on the entry motorcycle side? And going forward, now that that is out of the way, we should get to this 5%, 6%, 7% kind of a growth rate in your ICE motorcycle retail growth. Is that how we should look at it?
Rakesh Sharma
Yeah. So see, first of all, the VAHAN market shares for motorcycles are derived, and this is done on the basis of longstanding ratios which really don’t change violently. And those ratios are derived based on the submissions by each of the companies to place like SIAM. So we look at, not the two-wheeler share, we look at motorcycle share. When we look at motorcycle shares, our focus is always to first look at the 125cc+. We obviously look at total shares. Total shares comprise the 100cc and the 125cc+. Our strategic focus is in the 125cc+.
Between quarter two and end of quarter three, our share in VAHAN, and following the same methodology for now many years, has remained steady. We would have liked it to increase but it has not increased, it has remained steady. And in the 100cc market share, we have lost market share. And one of the reasons for this is it’s a very natural occurrence. It happens every year, and every year, we go through this debate within our company also whether we should participate in the Red Ocean action, which unfolds in the season. And it happens across all categories and all. It’s a very deliberate management choice of not participating in that, apart from some very, very smaller exceptions of not participating. Obviously, it has a temporary impact on market share, particularly in the entry level.
Once that has occurred, you also have to then recalibrate your billing volumes so that the channel inventory comes down. And you will see in December and in — probably in January also that we have to readjust our inventories in January, particularly in the entry level segment, where, for example, if you are tracking the industry, you would have seen a very substantial price reduction by the leaders with the entry-level product now being available at INR65,000, right? So obviously, that skews the shares. It means our outlook will change. It means the inventories which are there in the channel need to be addressed, and therefore, the billing volumes have to be recalibrated.
So you will see that, and it is best done over whatever, a couple of months, and that is what is we are in the process. That is why we are seeing that. But over a period of time, once all this is washed, I agree with you that the underlying rate of growth should kick in and we hopefully, let’s say, should be better, particularly in the 125cc+ segment. But yes, that temporary adjustment which is very visible to you would be in the wholesale volumes, which will be lower because we are recalibrating some of the channel inventory.
Amyn Pirani
Sure, that’s very helpful. And just second question on the OBD-2B point that you mentioned, broadly speaking, like would the price hike required be quite substantial? Because we’ve seen one of the global — large global competitors in this space having increased prices quite substantially across a lot of their models. Now, part of it is OBD-2B, part of it is, I think, some other things. But on an average basis, how much of a price hike would one need to take model-to-model, like-to-like?
Dinesh Thapar
So Amyn, I think as it currently stands, it looks like the cost impact on OBD-2B alone, one might choose to bring in more functionality and product features with it, it’s a whole different point, but pristine OBD-2B impact would be about 1%.
Amyn Pirani
Okay, thank you. Thanks for that. I’ll come back in the queue.
Dinesh Thapar
Sure.
Operator
Thank you very much. Next question is from the plan of Jinesh Gandhi from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Jinesh Gandhi
Yeah, hi. My question pertains to the PLI incentives. Given that this would be the first quarter where almost all our models would have been eligible for PLI, would it be fair to say that our realization of incentives would be close to the derived 13% number? Or how should one think about that?
Dinesh Thapar
So Jinesh, I’m just outlining the principles that we’ve clarified on previous calls as well. We accrue for PLI incentives after three conditions are met. One, the capex condition. And we’ve been delivering the capex condition. Clearly, there’s a commitment to deliver INR1,000 crores of capex under PLI over a five-year horizon with yearly rests. And so we’re delivering that.
The second is domestic value addition for these models have to be 50% plus. And the third is that the vehicle has to be certified by the testing agency, which in our case is ARAI. If these three are complied with and we get the certification, we start to accrue for sales. That has been the principle that we’ve adopted in the previous quarter and continued into the current quarter.
Jinesh Gandhi
Okay, sorry, my question was given that in 2Q, not all the models would have been eligible considering the timing differences of approval that way, would it be fair to say that 3Q would be the first quarter where we have seen a very complete benefit of PLI coming in 3Q, and in turn, EBITDA breakeven and EBITDA positive for the EV portfolio is also aided by that, or there can be further tailwind because of PLI in coming quarters? That’s my question.
Dinesh Thapar
Yeah, no, I think, Jinesh, because I might tell you that the current quarter PLI will be applicable in all models because clearly it might have been a continuous set of models. When we come in with something which is new and there’s a lead time, and if there’s a competitive context, we might have to forgo it for point of time, so it’s hard for me to give you a comment at the moment because it will not necessarily play out across all quarters as a uniform practice.
What you should really consider is the fact that we are accruing for it as certifications are coming in. Lead times for certification are getting a lot better, and therefore, that is providing some comfort in terms of when we start to accrue. The improved profitability of the electric portfolio, let me restate, is coming in on a few counts. One, because electric three-wheelers is now growing scale and that the profit pool for that is meaningfully covering for the drag that is happening on Chetak, right? So that’s the first.
The second is between the cost reduction, if I’m now looking at over a full year, the impact I said was neutral because, fundamentally, cost reductions that have happened across the electric portfolio along with the accruals of PLI have funded for entirely competitive pricing and the expansion that we have made of the portfolio between the last year and now.
Yeah, so that’s really what has led to it. And that’s the reason why I mentioned to you that with the growing pool of electric three-wheelers, we move from a situation of where we registered an overall cash loss same time last year, that has now moved to a marginal profit in the current quarter. If you recall, our last comment was that we had broken even on the e-two-wheelers plus three-wheelers portfolio put together. I’m now telling you that, from a breakeven situation, we’ve moved to a marginal EBITDA positive situation.
Jinesh Gandhi
Got it. Got it. And my second question pertains to the availability of finance on the ground. Some of the banks and NBFCs are highlighting increase in delinquencies on unsecured portfolio including two-wheeler financing. Are you seeing any such stress on the ground? I mean, for the 30% of financing which happens to your partners, are you seeing any signs of that, and can that be a red flag from demand recovery perspective or demand perspective in the domestic market?
Rakesh Sharma
Well, we can only comment on the experience we are getting through Bajaj Auto Credit because there we have all the information and I can tell you that it’s been an outstanding performance because we are experiencing almost 98.5% performance in what we call the bucket X, which means when the payment is due, whether it is collected. So almost 98.5% of payments are being collected as when they’re due, and in the balance also, the delinquency is very, very marginal. But yes, we are aware that this kind of information is there in the market.
Jinesh Gandhi
Got it. Got it. And lastly, hence — because of Bajaj Auto Credit, has our financing penetration also moved up further? What it would be now for us?
Rakesh Sharma
Well, the financial penetration is as — I mean, as it is, it is not as if the presence of Bajaj Auto Credit has suddenly jumped up the financial penetration, in our case.
You will recall that we had a very successful collaboration with Bajaj Finance Limited, which is doing an outstanding job in several — in all our counters. And that change has gone up seamlessly. And therefore, the penetration at an overall level remains the same. But yes, what has happened is that because of perhaps the own issues with some of these financing companies are facing, the market share of Bajaj Auto Credit Limited within financing has increased. That is now gone up to 70%-odd, which used to be 60%-odd, let’s say, a couple of years back for BFL.
Jinesh Gandhi
Got it. Got it. Great, sir. Thanks, and all the best.
Operator
Thank you very much. Next question is from line of Vipul Agrawal from HSBC Securities. Please go ahead.
Vipul Agrawal
Hi, thank you for taking my question. Sir, my question [Multiple Speakers]
Operator
Vipul, sorry to interrupt you. Can you speak a little louder please?
Vipul Agrawal
Can you hear me now?
Operator
Yes, a little better.
Vipul Agrawal
Thanks for that. So on the export side like you mentioned, you are seeing a strong recovery in African markets, especially in Nigeria. What are the key drivers which is driving the growth over there? And is it sustainable, or is it again will be dependent on availability of dollars over there?
Rakesh Sharma
I did not say a very strong recovery. I said there is recovery, and Africa is back into the positive growth zone. The strong recovery, etc., is in places like Latin America and Asia. But see, what is driving the recovery is that ultimately there is a huge requirement for people to move around. Public transport is not available. As you know, motorcycles are used as taxis. There is no personal use of motorcycles. It is probably 1%, 99% use case is taxis. For people to just climb onto the motorcycle and go from point A to point B. That’s a very fundamental requirement, and that continues to grow as the population grows and as economic activity also picks up, people start moving around, go for jobs, etc. So that is very much there.
It gets interrupted by the macroeconomics, particularly on the currency side. When there is devaluation, it leads to the pricing increasing and that makes it more difficult for new customers to come in and buy motorcycles. So we have to watch that because that I don’t think we are out of the woods. We are in positive growth territory. But I wouldn’t say that we are completely out of the woods. Let’s see what is the kind of currency system we will experience in the next few weeks and months. A lot depends on the stability in that area.
Vipul Agrawal
Sure. Thanks for that. My second question pertains to entry-level motorcycle. Like we have seen your commentary in last two, three quarters around that you were not very aggressive on entry-level segment. Does it have something to do with the OBD price — OBD-2 price hike which actually impacted a lot on the entry-level segment during April 2020, the BSIV to BSVI? So are we expecting a strong price hike in the entry-level again on the two norms, or it will be a nominal price hike?
Rakesh Sharma
So our focus on the 125cc+ segment is not — is led mainly by the kind of value opportunity and margin opportunity which we see in the top half of the segment. Secondly, we feel that the ability to gain share through product differentiation, those degrees of freedom are much higher in the top half. In the bottom half, there is a very adverse competitive ratio. Plus, the degrees of Freedom become much less in the sense that there are not many points on which we can differentiate.
And to be honest, we have tried many things. We have tried like giving tubeless tires and digital consoles and four speed to five speed and even ABS, but these have all met with limited success because the customer’s need over there is price and simple product, and it becomes difficult to differentiate. So the combination of relatively less margin opportunity and tighter degrees of Freedom to differentiate has driven us to undertake a strategy which was 125cc+ zone. And in any case, that goes in the grain of the wood. The tailwinds are with that segment in any case. So it is not to do with BSIV, BSVI, OBD-2A or 2C. Those things have to be tackled as we go along and that is irrespective of this segment.
Vipul Agrawal
Noted, sir, Thanks for that.
Operator
Thank you very much. Next question is from the line of Pramod Kumar from UBS Group. Please go ahead.
Pramod Kumar
Yes, sir, thanks a lot for the opportunity. Sir, a couple of questions. On the cost side, we seem to have had like a flatlining of other expense employee costs, standalone, while consolidated, there’s been a sharp jump. So I just want to understand what are the big cost elements sitting outside of the standalone numbers, which are sitting in the consolidated numbers? And also, if you can just explain how are we managing the cost, especially given s the festive season, marketing costs are elevated, there have been promotion scheme. So just if you can help us understand the data there. And that would be my first question, sir.
Dinesh Thapar
So Pramod, the first piece is that the difference that you’re seeing between standalone and consolidated, essentially represents, for the most part, manpower or employees that we are building up for BATL, Bajaj Auto Technology Limited, which is the technology or research arm that Rakesh just spoke about and give you a flavor of what we’re doing. So we’re clearly sizing up that organization to be able to invest behind absolutely cutting-edge technology and research. And the other is the fact that we have obviously sized up another set of people for Bajaj Auto Credit. So if you’re looking at employee cost in isolation, standalone and consolidated, the big two will really come from those two organizations which are relatively new.
Pramod Kumar
And sorry to just — Dinesh, thanks a lot for that. Just a clarification. So a lot of these investments related to EV and future technologies are sitting on — the expense are sitting on that particular subsidiary, while we are booking the PLI and other bits on the standalone entity. Is that understanding right?
Dinesh Thapar
No, no, no, no. So I think the current — so two parts, and you heard Rakesh make a mention of that. The current PLI, etc., is being booked, all sales is being booked as Bajaj Auto because you know that over a period of time we’ve consolidated everything in the parent entity, which has always been the case, but for a very brief period where we had sales from the other subsidiary, but for the most part, all revenue, all costs, insofar as it pertains to electric sits in Bajaj Auto.
We are now sizing up Bajaj Auto Technology Limited really to deliver technology which will start to be captive. So they will really start to size up their operation, start to expand it. And fundamentally, what Bajaj Auto will do is that Bajaj Auto will either end up paying for services rendered by BATL, or pay for a royalty where BATL owns the IP, that is essentially the operating model. So in whichever case, whether it is the cross charge for BATL when it serves in the role of being a service provider, or when it provides technology for which the IP is owned by BATL, the cost for that will be borne by Bajaj Auto.
Now, that cost, like I said, could be either cross charge, which is project-specific, project-related, or will end up being a royalty stream for the IP where BATL is. So that essentially means that all costs pertaining to the electric business eventually will be borne and accounted for in Bajaj Auto. What you will see in BATL will be a separate set of financials that they will run essentially between the expenses that they incur to deliver the services and the revenue that they will earn from Bajaj Auto through the cross charges and through the royalty stream.
Pramod Kumar
But Dinesh, I guess, [Multiple Speakers] separately eventually. Because otherwise it’s extended R&D arm of Bajaj Auto for all practical purposes. So many — most of the companies are running it in-house on that.
Dinesh Thapar
Most categorically. I don’t want you to take away saying that essentially revenues being booked over here and cost is being booked over there. That is absolutely not the case.
Pramod Kumar
Yeah. Yes, understood. And is it a future plan for monetization? You see a potential monetization event here because this can be also sold to other companies like KTM and your other partners.
Dinesh Thapar
Well, very early thinking, I think there’s clearly a job to be done to be able to really both conceive and deploy technology for our own captive portfolio. And there’s enough of an ask on hand on that. So let’s stick, I think, to the near term which is the priority for them to feed the captive business on both electric and next-gen tech, which is for us. Future opportunities across subsidiary companies will always open up for conversations when relevant.
Pramod Kumar
Yeah. And second bit which I think was part of the first question was expenses line item on other expenditure being flatlined despite the festive season. Typically, you see expenses rise for everyone. And then as Rakesh will be answering that. Just a further question to Rakesh on the market share thinking because despite EVs, the ramp up and the kind of success we had in EVs, which is phenomenal, we haven’t seen that gain percolate down to the ICE side for whatever reason, right? And our ICE market share is now precariously closer to 10%, 10.5% on VAHAN when you deducing the numbers from VAHAN.
So just want to understand what is the thinking there because, at some level, these kind of low market shares and underperformance versus the industry start hurting the dealer franchise. While we as organization are doing very well on exports and product lines and three-wheelers and everything and spares. But what’s the thinking there as to how do we kind of get back the market share going higher and benefit from the electrification trend as well? Thank you.
Rakesh Sharma
Well, on the market share, as I explained in my opening statements, there is no — see, first of all, we are very focused on the top half of the industry, and I have been talking about it earlier as well as in this call. With our number two position, I just wanted to clarify one thing, that there is no dealer viability issue. We are growing the dealer network as we want. We have a very healthy dealer network, and the dealers are, in fact, becoming increasingly engaged. We are finding within the dealer network huge interest to undertake expansion programs for Triumph and for exclusive Chetak stores. So operating with this kind of a focus doesn’t bring into question any dealer viability issues. We’ve got some 650 dealers with almost 1,500 branches and showrooms and almost 3,000, 4,000 ASDs, secondary dealers, which is pretty adequate. And then in addition, we have the KTM, Triumph, and networks. So that is one point.
Of course, our main issue is that we must strive for leadership in the top half of the segment, which is the 125cc+ segment. There, the performance in — between quarter two and quarter three has been stagnant. We have not increased our market share over there. And one of the things is we have not participated aggressively in the discounting and it happens in the month of October, etc. It was particularly severe and it is still going on. I have told you, you can check the entry-level price, which is INR65,000, which is at an all-time low.
Now we have chosen not to participate in that. We can participate. If there’s any company which has the deep pockets, it is Bajaj Auto. But we feel that the profitless growth point always stares us in the face in the conference room. So we’ve chosen not to participate. But we obviously want to expand our market share in the area of strategic focus. And there, like I said, we believe that we will do it through a succession of products. Those — that roll out post-season has already started. We have held it back. So you’ve seen the N125, which came in, which is a very stylistic youthful 125cc.
We have introduced the ABS features, the — some of the digital features, etc., in several of our models. We have upgraded the Pulsar 150 to the Pulsar 160 twin disc and soon it will come in as single disc. So there are a whole lot of these plays and then we will have some new platforms down the — so we feel that we are on the right path. We will need to build also the Freedom to get us that share in the 125cc+ segment. And through the combination of the expanding product portfolio with communication is probably going to be the best in the industry. I mean, if I look at comparisons of the kind of innovation, which is taking place, I would say that it is the best. Now that has to translate into shares, etc., as we go forward.
Pramod Kumar
And Dinesh, you talked about 1% price increase factor normally for the OBD-2. Does it hold good even for the e-carbureted motorcycles in 125cc portfolio?
Dinesh Thapar
So I think the question you’re asking is the 1%, I’d say, is on the entirety of the motorcycle portfolio. Obviously, given realizations of the entry levels being lower, that percentage will slightly vary, be closer to 2%. But like — but I think what you should take away is really 1% on the portfolio from a cost perspective which is what the OBD-2 will have to get priced out for.
Pramod Kumar
Thanks a lot, sir. Thanks a lot, and wish you all the best. Thank you.
Dinesh Thapar
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mayank Sharma from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Kapil Singh
Hello?
Rakesh Sharma
Yes, Mayank, we can hear you.
Kapil Singh
Hi, sir, this is Kapil. Can you hear me?
Dinesh Thapar
Oh, Kapil. Hi, Kapil. Yeah, we can hear you. Go ahead.
Kapil Singh
Yeah, thanks. So sir, just firstly wanted to check on the profile of Chetak buyers. Is it a scooter buyer that you are seeing coming in, or is it the motorcycle buyer also moving to scooters? Just some perspective on that.
Rakesh Sharma
Well, it is largely the scooter buyers. I would say 70% of the buyers would be coming in from the scooter cohort.
Kapil Singh
Okay. So for Bajaj Auto, these are incremental customers?
Rakesh Sharma
Yeah, these are incremental customers. Now these could be people who are — there could be people who are owning a motorcycle and sometimes they want a second vehicle in the house and they are choosing. So it’s like that. But largely, it is the EV and Chetak particularly, they are cannibalizing scooters — ICE scooters.
Kapil Singh
Understood. Second, just wanted a perspective on the industry, particularly motorcycle industry. I noticed that after the festive season, in particular, sales have been quite slow. Would you agree with that? And if you have got any thoughts, why that may have happened?
Rakesh Sharma
Well, it’s a natural phenomena, isn’t it? Like I said, the first half from April to July, the industry was growing at 6% and was languishing at about 6%. The 36 days of the season, particularly the final 18 days of the season, had a very high double-digit — I mean, high-teens growth which perked up the industry year-to-date growth. And in the season with the offer, with the communication across categories and with people being in the mood to — it’s an auspicious and cheerful occasion. So they buy — sometimes they advance their purchases. And it’s a very regular phenomenon that post-season, the growth rates are muted because what happens is that sometimes the season also shifts. So we are encountering most of that and we feel that, therefore, to understand what is the underlying growth, it should not get distracted by the season and we should take a longer short view. When we take a longer short view of September to December or April to December, we find sort of a consensus emerging that the growth should be around 6% to 8%.
Kapil Singh
This is, in your view, temporary ups and downs in demand and you’re not reading anything on the consumer sentiment side as such, which indicates any kind of slowdown?
Rakesh Sharma
See, compared to the growth rate of the season, obviously, post the thing, the growth rates are down because the activity is very minimal post-season. We will start to see now. But having said that, I would certainly say that the growth rate for FY ’25 is no different from FY ’24. I mean, I would like to comment on two weeks or three weeks or a month because it is — one can draw very, very wrong conclusions by such narrow time — taking such narrow time horizons. But if one were to take a full year view, I would say that yes, we would have liked it to be, to grow faster this year compared to last year, but the growth rate is very similar.
Kapil Singh
And sir, just lastly on Triumph, if you could make a comment like, what is the plan now to drive growth over there? We’ve hit a certain number and — but it’s sort of at a certain level now. So will it be more product introductions which are required here? How are you looking at growth over the next two years or so in this portfolio?
Rakesh Sharma
Over the next two years, certainly there’ll be a slew of new products with very different functionality. Yeah, Triumph is also steadily moving up. We’re now hitting 3,000-plus numbers in the month. And it is on the basis of the three products, Scrambler and Speed 400 and the new Speed T4, which all three are doing reasonably well. We will continue this growth organically on the basis of network expansion. And also, we have to understand it’s not as if Triumph is a widely popular and very well-known brand. At the end of the day, when you start to go out from the metros into the mini metros in the smaller town, Triumph is absolutely a new brand for people.
So as the volume — as the bikes get onto the road, as we get some scale there, and communication increases, the brand will also start to come to life. So organically, we expect the portfolio to keep growing. Then there will be a little bit of network effect because we will continue to expand our network. And over, let’s say, 18 months or so, certainly there will be an expansion of the product portfolio.
Kapil Singh
Thank you, sir. Thanks, and wish you all the best.
Rakesh Sharma
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that will be the last question. I’ll now hand the conference over to Mr. Anand Newar for closing comments.
Anand Newar
Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for joining on this call. Have a good day. Thank you.
Rakesh Sharma
Thank you, everyone. Good evening.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]