Analysis: Bajaj CNG Bike Expected Price

(Update: The Bajaj Freedom 125 has been launched at Rs 95,000 (ex-showroom). Check out the details here.)

With rising petrol prices, many two-wheeler brands are moving towards electric vehicles. Bajaj, already known for its electric scooters, has found another way to help customers save on fuel costs by developing the world's first CNG bike. The Pune-based manufacturer is all set to launch the Bajaj CNG bike on July 5, 2024. It has also been spied several times during testing.

The upcoming Bajaj CNG bike will be the first of its kind, thus requiring Bajaj to adopt new technologies and manufacturing processes. The manufacturer will also need to invest in new equipment apart and incur costs in research and development and extensive testing.

That said, Bajaj still has expertise in CNG vehicles as it currently manufactures and sells CNG three-wheelers. To a certain extent, this should help Bajaj keep costs in check. Recently, we conducted a poll on our social media channels to gauge our readers’ opinions on the ideal pricing of the Bajaj CNG bike. Here are the results:

Interestingly, over 50% of respondents believe the Bajaj CNG bike will be priced around Rs 90,000, which is on the higher side. About 25% think the bike could be priced at Rs 70,000, while about 23% feel that a price of Rs 80,000 would be acceptable.

Our opinion aligns with those who voted for Rs 80,000, as we believe this could be a competitive price point. This assumption is based on several factors. For instance, in an earlier interview, Bajaj Auto CEO Rajiv Bajaj emphasised the importance of careful planning for the initial adoption of the CNG bike. Bajaj wants to make sure all homework is done in terms of quality, dealerships, service, parts, and overall customer experience. Rajiv Bajaj further mentioned that the CNG bike will be priced somewhere above the entry level segment, so it won't be as low as Rs 70,000 (ex-showroom). 

With these considerations, we believe that the Bajaj CNG bike is likely to cost around Rs 80,000 (ex-showroom). This price would position it close to the Honda Shine 125, which is Rs 79,800 (ex-showroom Delhi), and will also help Bajaj take on the Shine's dominance as the best-selling 125cc bike in India, assuming the CNG bike gets a 125cc engine. Pushing the price beyond this, say towards Rs 90,000 or Rs 1 lakh (ex-showroom), may not work very well as that's the premium 125cc segment which is populated by the likes of TVS Raider 125 and Hero Xtreme 125R. Moreover, Bajaj is known to price its bikes aggressively, as evidenced by the launch price of the Bajaj Pulsar NS400Z. Hence, we believe pricing the upcoming Bajaj CNG bike at around Rs 80,000 would make sense.

The upcoming Bajaj CNG bike will serve as a middle ground between petrol and full-electric two-wheelers. The price of compressed natural gas (CNG) is also significantly lower than petrol (For instance: Rs 75.09 for a 1kg CNG vs Rs 94.72 for 1 litre of petrol in Delhi as of today), so running costs of the CNG bike will be lower than petrol-powered bikes. While it is unknown what the Bajaj CNG bike mileage is, we expect it to offer around 70km per kg. That said, we’ll get a better idea once we know the actual displacement and other details.

We know that Bajaj is working on multiple CNG bikes, and the first CNG bike might be called Bajaj Bruzer while the second CNG bike could be called Bajaj Fighter, two names that the manufacturer has recently trademarked. Moreover, Bajaj will have to launch the CNG bike in phases, in places where there's a good CNG network available. So it won't be a pan-India bike like the Hero Splendor.