MBA in INDIA

Rajiv Bajaj makes it to Forbes cover page

It's not necessary to build an empire like Mittal Steel and become a billionaire like Azim Premji to make it to the cover of Forbes magazine; a corporate thesis as basic as excelling in your business can also take you there - just like Rajiv Bajaj.

The MD of Bajaj Auto has done it by executing a turnaround in his family-run automaker and reclaiming the top position in the two-wheeler market, while earning himself a place on the cover page of the Asia edition of the world's most famous capitalist magazine.

Besides, Bajaj Auto also finds place in Asia's Fab 50 list, featured in the same October issue of Forbes Asia - among the companies that the magazine describes as the best of Asia-Pacific's publicly traded firms.The auto major posted net profit of $238 million with sales of $1.9 billion last year, ensuring it a place on the Fab 50 list, the magazine said.Rajiv is credited with the turnaround, transforming Bajaj from a stodgy scooter manufacturer to a tech-happy motorcycle maker in a country, where two-wheelers account for 80% of all vehicles.

However, it has been a long and not so easy ride for Rajiv Bajaj. In 2001, a year after Rajiv unofficially took the rein of the family-run business, he has seen Bajaj Auto losing its market lead in the two-wheeler market for the first time in 45 years.Motorcycles took over the market and Hero Honda's dominance was so great that such bikes, regardless of brand, were known as "Hondas", the magazine says in its cover story.

# posted by Cool Blogger @ 10:30 AM