Bajaj Auto8217;s profit may dip

Bajaj Auto had recorded net profit of Rs 460 crore in 1997-98 and Rs 440 crore in 1996-97. The Bajaj chief said the total sales of the company was likely to go up marginally from 13.33 lakh vehicles in 1997-98 to 13.38 lakh vehicles this year.

During the year, he said, scooter sales remained flat, while sales of motorcycles shot up by about 25 per cent. Motorcycles account for about 15 per cent of the total sales of Bajaj Auto.

He said the company8217;s new plant at Chakan in Maharashtra, set up to manufacture most of the new models of Bajaj, would go on stream inApril this year.

The Chakan plant with a capacity of 200,000 vehicles a year has been set up at a cost of about Rs 150 crore. Bajaj said the new plant was part of the Rs 1,000 crore expansion and modernisation process which began last year.