No country in the world loves its motorcycles quite like India does. With more than 20 million two-wheelers sold each year, India dwarfs even China and Indonesia when it comes to sheer volume. And it’s true, bikes are the backbone of India’s transportation structure. They make sense, given how dense India’s population is and how tight and congested the roads can get.
Big names like Hero, TVS, and Mahindra rule the streets, providing the masses with cheap, efficient, and dependable workhorses.
But out of all the big players in the Indian motorcycle industry, Bajaj stands as one of the strongest. In its home country, Bajaj is a household name, manufacturing affordable commuters and three-wheelers for decades. Meanwhile, overseas, it’s forged partnerships with some big names like Triumph, and of course, KTM, a company it might just actually pull out of financial hell. And while this is what a lot of us from outside of India see, Bajaj’s real strength lies in its home country.
That’s why Bajaj is doubling down on the Freedom 125, a commuter that holds the title as the world’s first CNG-powered motorcycle. Now, in case you weren’t aware, CNG, or Compressed Natural Gas, has long been a go-to alternative fuel in India. It’s been used to power everything from auto-rickshaws to buses. For one, it’s cheaper than gasoline or diesel, burns cleaner, and is available in abundance in lots of major cities. This is precisely why Bajaj wants more and more commuters to realize the savings potential of CNG, and it’s rolling out a full-on awareness campaign to spread the word.
Naturally, the star of the show is the Freedom 125, which flexes the ability to switch between CNG and gasoline. Running on CNG, Bajaj claims the bike cuts fuel costs by nearly 50 percent—a pretty big deal for budget-conscious commuters.
But while CNG makes perfect sense in the Indian market, it’s quite a hard sell in other parts of the world. You see, the infrastructure for CNG refueling is pretty sparse outside of South Asia and South America. Furthermore, in places like the US and Europe, electric motorcycles have been gaining traction, and the idea of CNG will be nothing short of a step back. It’s important to remember that CNG is still a fossil fuel, and so it’s by no means even close to being carbon neutral, even though it burns cleaner than gasoline.
Nevertheless, the Bajaj Freedom 125 is a pretty big deal for India and possibly other parts of Asia, where affordability and efficiency are more important than outright performance and overall sustainability. But what do you think? Could a bike like the Freedom 125 find a niche in markets like the US or Europe? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: ET Auto
