Having phased out the production of its venerable Bajaj scooters to shift focus exclusively on motorcycles, Bajaj Auto intends to aggressively pursue a one million per year target for its Pulsar brand of bikes, and has already launched the new Pulsar 135 LS.

India’s second-ranking maker of motorcycles after market leader Hero Honda, Bajaj has also phased out four motorcycle models in the last four years – while it earlier discontinued Platina 125 and the XCD 135 models from the 110cc-135cc executive segment, it has recently decided to phase out Pulsar 200 and XCD 125 models too.

With the recent decision, the Bajaj lineup now comprises only eight motorcycle models and one gearless scooter, Kristal; as against Hero Honda’s 15 motorcycle models and an automatic scooter, Pleasure.

Meanwhile, the XCD brand, which had been launched with great flourish two years back, has been erased altogether from the Bajaj lineup. Apparently on an eviction spree, Bajaj further intends phasing out the Kristal and the Platina 100 by the end of the year.

Talking about the company’s strategy at the unveiling of the Pulsar 135 LS, Rajiv Bajaj said: “With the launch of Bajaj Discover and Bajaj Pulsar new variant, we are poised to garner a bigger market share. Our objective is to become the largest motorcycle maker in the world out-pacing Honda, which now accounts for about 8 million motorcycles a year.”