UltraViolette Founder To Rajiv Bajaj: Let’s Race Our Bikes And See Who Wins?

A battle of discourse has risen between Bajaj and homegrown EV maker Ultraviolette after Rajiv Bajaj casually took a dig at UV. Later, we see Ultraviolette throwing out an open challenge to the Indian motorcycle giant. CEO Narayan Subramaniam has openly challenged Rajiv Bajaj to do a race against their electric motorcycle with any Bajaj motorcycle. While we wait to see if Bajaj would take up the challenge or not, here’s how things started brewing between the two.

In a recent interview with a media house, Rajiv Bajaj took a witty dig at Ultraviolette’s two-digit sales, by making a remark ‘There is nothing ultra about the Ultraviolette sales’. The homegrown EV manufacturer’s monthly sales seemed puny against the huge numbers posted by Bajaj. However, this remark did not go easy on UV. Its CEO and Co-Founder Narayan Subramaniam, soon showed up with a response.

 

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In an interesting turn of events, Narayan put out a challenge for Bajaj, calling for an open race to see who wins. The UV bossman said in a video posted on social media: “We’re gonna be there, right in the backyard of Bajaj Auto, at a race format event in about 90 days time at Aamby Valley. We are bringing the best of what we’ve got in terms of design, tech, and performance together.”

“We definitely invite Bajaj Auto to bring the best of what they’ve got. I think a simple race format should probably give the answer to who, with limited resources and capital, is really pushing the boundaries of what Indian engineering can truly achieve” says Subramaniam. Things seem to have escalated, but it remains to be seen how Bajaj will react to this bold 90-day open challenge.

The event Narayan is referring to is the Valley Run, scheduled to commence in Aamby Valley by the end of November. Bajaj has its base/ factory in Chakan, Pune and it would be a matter of shame if they choose to turn down the call.

UV currently has the F77 Mach 2 electric bike in its portfolio. With its instant torque and quick acceleration (0-100 kph in 7.7 seconds), the F77 could beat almost all Bajaj bikes on an empty air strip. Even if Bajaj brings their best motorcycle, securing a win could be tough. Earlier at EICMA 2023, UV had also debuted the F99 racing platform, which is claimed to be faster and more advanced than the current motorcycle. It is in fact, the fastest made-in-India motorcycle.

Narayan in his post, remarked on the legacy of Bajaj Pulsar. He said “I also want to give credit to Mr. Bajaj for the Genesis of Pulsar brand in India and what it stood for in terms of performance motorcycling in India. But where is that spirit now?”

Bajaj Bossman’s Previous Word Fights

This is not the first time that Rajiv Bajaj made headlines by taking digs at his competitors. A few years back, at the Pulsar F250 launch, the Rajiv took a deep dig by saying he would have OATS for his breakfast, where OATS stood for ‘Ola, Ather,  Tork Motors and SmartE’- all being Indian EV startups. Triggered by this, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal challenged him for a live debate. Last year, Bhavish attempted another comeback by saying “If they eat OATS for breakfast, I put ICE cubes in my drink”.

More recently, at the Bajaj Freedom 125 launch, Rajiv sparked it up again by saying “I have said before, legends have OATS for breakfast, so we will rekindle that memory for you” to which Bhavish’s response was a tweet that said “Today they’re eating OATS, tomorrow they will their words”. This in a way, sounds legit, as Bajaj has already attempted an EV in the form of all-electric Chetak. The vehicle is, however, not the so popular.

Before you call this double standard, Bajaj has a justification ready. They think electric two-wheelers would make sense only as scooters, and not motorcycles. Electric motorcycles will likely remain niche products, and might not be the best financial decisions in terms of R&D investments. Though the newest dig is at UltraViolette, Ola could soon pick it up and come up with a response, as they had revealed their electric motorcycles for India in August.