When Bajaj Auto talks about exports shooting above the 200,000-unit mark month after month, it’s easy for a Western audience to immediately think of KTM 390s and Triumph 400s heading overseas. Those bikes matter because they’re the most visible part of Bajaj’s global footprint in Europe and other developed markets. But the numbers show they’re still just a small piece of a much bigger picture.
Let’s start with Triumph, since that’s where a lot of the recent attention has been. In 2024, Triumph sold roughly 29,700 motorcycles in India, almost entirely made up of the Speed 400 and Scrambler 400X. Globally, Triumph reported around 134,600 units sold in 2024, its best year on record. The India-built 400s were repeatedly cited as a major growth driver. That gives us a useful anchor. Even in a breakout year, Triumph’s India volume alone is under 30,000 units.
Now let's shift our attention to KTM.
Bajaj has disclosed that it shipped around 20,000 KTM motorcycles for export in a single quarter, a figure tied largely to the 390 platform. Annualized, that puts KTM export volumes comfortably in the tens of thousands, but still nowhere near the scale implied by Bajaj’s monthly export totals. Again, important bikes, strong visibility, but not the bulk of the math.
This is where perspective matters. Bajaj exporting 200,000-plus motorcycles per month translates to roughly 600,000 units per quarter. Against that backdrop, even if you combine Triumph 400 exports and KTM 390 shipments, you’re still looking at a single-digit percentage of total export volume. High value, high visibility, but supplementary by sheer unit count.
The real engine sits in Bajaj’s own lineup, which most Western riders rarely encounter. The Pulsar range alone sells in massive volumes across India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and parts of Africa. In India, Pulsar sales routinely land well north of 100,000 units per month across variants. Not all of those are exported, but it gives you a sense of the platform’s scale and why it translates so well to overseas markets.
Then there’s the Dominar 400, which has become one of Bajaj’s most important export models. In markets like Latin America and Southeast Asia, it fills a gap that many Japanese and European brands have left behind. Big enough for highways, affordable enough to be attainable, and simple enough to survive tough conditions. Volumes aren’t publicly broken out, but Dominar exports are consistently referenced as a core contributor in Bajaj’s international business.
Beyond that sits the layer most invisible to Western audiences: small-displacement commuters and scooters. Bajaj’s 100cc to 125cc motorcycles sell in enormous numbers across Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America. These bikes are bought for daily transport, delivery work, and fleet use. Individually, they don’t attract attention. Collectively, they account for a huge share of Bajaj’s export volume. This is where the bulk of those 200,000-plus monthly exports are coming from.
Zoom out far enough, and this starts to look less like a company-specific success story and more like a signal for the global motorcycle industry. While many established brands are focused on premium pricing and lifestyle positioning, Bajaj is scaling in markets that are still growing in raw rider numbers. Latin America is rebounding. East and Southern Africa are entering a new growth phase. Southeast Asia continues to expand its middle class. These regions don’t need halo bikes. They need motorcycles that work.
KTM 390s and Triumph 400s matter because they show what Bajaj can do at the premium end. But the export surge isn’t being driven by Western taste or marketing buzz. It’s being driven by millions of riders buying practical, affordable motorcycles at scale. That’s the part the Western world doesn’t see. And it’s why Bajaj’s export numbers deserve a closer look right now.
Source: CNBC TV18
