Explaining the product Mr R L Ravichandran, vice-president (business development & marketing), Bajaj Auto said that Saffire comes with advanced technology and styling with its three-speed automatic transmission offering faster pick-up and consistent fuel efficiency of 45 to 50 Km in the city driving conditions. It is priced at Rs 34,738 in Chennai.

Positioned as a youth brand and targeted at the young city riders, Mr Ravichandran said cine idol Madhavan was a natural choice of brand ambassador as he fits into the role perfectly. The commercials featuring the latter will attempt to bring out the hassle-free driving comfort of Saffire so much so that `one can day dream', he added. The commercial, filmed by well known cinematographer P C Sriram, will be aired by Diwali. The communication strategy for the product is being handled by Lintas.

Mr Ravichandran said that the southern region was the largest market for automatic (gearless) two-wheeler segment with Tamil Nadu alone buying about 40,000 units every year. Karnataka and Kerala are the other largest markets. This segment, he added, was growing at a rate of 26 per cent and Bajaj has a market share of 20 per cent in this segment. This is expected to increase to 25 per cent subsequent to the launch of Saffire.

He also said that Bajaj Auto has set an internal target of selling two million units by 2002-03 against the present 1.4 million vehicles. As many as seven new products are slated for launch this fiscal by Bajaj Auto and fuel efficiency will be the credo for all of them, he added.