or 12 years now, Hero Honda's Splendor has been the leader in the 75-125 cc motorbike segment. According to industry sources, Splendor sells about 80,000 bikes a month and its nearest rival Bajaj's CT100 does about 70,000 bikes a month. But this story is not about Splendor but of Platina, another entry in the segment from the Bajaj stable, which has been, for years, desperately trying to overtake Splendor.

S Sridhar, vice president, marketing, (two-wheelers), Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL), agrees that the company had not been able to shake Splendor's hold on the market. The reason, according to the company, was that Bajaj had, for years before the launch of Disover, been fighting in the 100 cc market with just one brand - the CT 100 - while Hero Honda had Splendor+, Passion Plus, CD Deluxe and CD Dawn, (all 97.2 cc) competing in the segment.... more