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Undeterred by the slowdown in two-wheeler sales, Bajaj Auto announced that it plans to launch new bikes in 2009 by the next nine months and looks to make a turn around in sales growth. Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj told that the Bajaj launch six two-wheeler models and three in the three-wheeler segment.

"How the auto industry fares this year will depend on individual companies and we are very positive for this year. We will be launching nine new models by the next nine months," He added.

Explaining about the optimistic outlook despite a slow market, he said, "Input raw material costs have come down drastically, that gives us a benefit of around Rs. 1,000 per bike. Our exporting phase have also been growing, that is driven by sales in markets like Africa, which is still unaffected by the global credit crisis." On the domestic front, where sales have been falling, Bajaj said that the company will stick to its strategy of focusing on 125cc bikes.

"Now the 125cc plus segment bikes constitute 41% of the Indian motorcycle market and it is only a matter of time that this might become 50% and we will continue our efforts to wean away customers from the entry level 100cc to higher capacity bikes," Bajaj said.

He added that the company has been able to overcome the problems of lack of retail credit and only about 30% of its sales are now through financing.