Bajaj Launches Dominar Brand In Brazil With 3 Offerings

Bajaj has had a very strong presence in the Central and South American two-wheeler markets for quite a few years now. So imagine our surprise when the Chakan-based bikemaker opened its innings in Brazil quite recently in September 2022. 

Now Brazil is one of the largest two-wheeler markets in the world outside of Asia, and Bajaj is starting off there by launching not one, but three Dominars. In this Dominar lineup, the Dominar 400 is pretty much the same one we get in India, but the Dominar 200 and Dominar 160 are basically rebadged versions of the Indian Pulsar NS200 and NS160 respectively, albeit with a few tweaks.

The primary difference between the Brazilian Dominars and Indian Pulsar NS’ is the fact that those bikes both get an inverted fork at the front. Everything else remains almost identical, barring the engine output and weight. The Dominar 200 makes 23.5PS and 18.3Nm and weighs 154kg, while the Pulsar NS200 offers 24.5PS and 18.74Nm with a weight of 159.5kg. 

Similarly, the Dominar 160 makes 15.5PS and 14.6Nm vs the NS160’s 17.2PS and 14.6Nm. The Dominar 160 also weighs 142kg compared to the NS160’s 151kg kerb weight. We suspect this is down to the fact that these bikes are still running carburetted setups in Brazil, while the Pulsars in India have moved to fuel injection to meet the more stringent BS6 emissions norms. All other mechanicals remain the same.

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The reason why it’s taken so long for Bajaj to enter the Brazilian market is because Brazil mandates foreign bikemakers to set up manufacturing facilities in the country, as opposed to just importing bikes. 

At the moment, Bajaj has started manufacturing its ‘perimeter frame bikes’ – the Dominar 400, Pulsar NS200 and Pulsar NS160 – in Brazil and has branded them all the Dominar. 

The company does have plans to make the latest generation Pulsars (N250, N160 and P150) in Brazil as well, and they will be launched under the Pulsar brand only. But this will take a little while longer as Bajaj will also need to set up manufacturing for these bikes over there.