A New Chetak To Electrify The Millennials

Bajaj resurrects iconic scooter brand for electric mobility

- Murali Gopalan

The mood was one of nostalgia on Wednesday. As Bajaj Auto prepared to unveil its new Chetak electric scooter in Delhi, it was preceded by visuals of an era gone. This was the time when the brand, in its earlier geared avatar, ruled the Indian two-wheeler market.

The icing on the cake, needless to add, was the Hamara Bajaj commercial which continues to enjoy tremendous recall despite the fact that many years have gone by since it was first aired on television.

At one level, it is not entirely surprising that the company decided to retain Chetak as its brand for the new electric scooter. It may have been yanked offthe production line years ago to keep pace with the changing times and focus on motorcycles but the recall factor continues to be very high.

After all, it is only too well known that brands never die which also explains why Jawa has been resurrected or, similarly, why PSA chose to acquire the Ambassador brand from the CK Birla group. In the two-wheeler space, Chetak stood tall even while it had to eventually yield space to the motorcycle wave and bowed out.

RL Ravichandran, a two-wheeler veteran who was once part of the leadership team at Bajaj Auto, is clearly excited about the revival of the brand given that he has been associated with its rise and fall during his tenure.

Ravichandran believes that the new electric avatar has the potential to be a winner in the market. While giving his thumbs-up to the Chetak’s styling and design, he is convinced that it will scale new heights since “there is nobody else who can resurrect a brand like Chetak other than Bajaj Auto with its outstanding product development capabilities”.