Pulsar 200 phased out!

Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi has become the first ever Pulsar to be phased out of production, in the 8 and a half year old history of Pulsars.

When the Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi was first launched in January 2007, many, including me at that time, thought that it might be curtains for the Pulsar 180DTSi. However not only has the Pulsar 180 DTSi managed to survive that, it has also now gotten the same looks as that of the Pulsar 200 DTSi and of course it is the p200 which is ultimately getting phased out!

From the beginning, Pulsar 200 DTSi was the odd one out in the Indian market, and kind of catered to those people who didn’t wanted to or couldn’t afford to go for the fuel injected Pulsar 220 or the Karizma and wanted something more powerful than the Pulsar 150 and 180.

With the carbureted version of the Pulsar 220 being launched by Bajaj at an attractive price and the Pulsar 180 DTSi becoming almost as powerful and beautiful as the Pulsar 200, I guess it was the right decision on part of Bajaj Auto to phase out the 200 and concentrate its R&D and marketing resources on the 150, 180 and 220.

However I can not help feel bad for the Pulsar 200 owners, especially those who just recently bought their motorcycles. I guess Bajaj Auto would continue to provide them with spares and service for at least a few years to come, especially if Bajaj Auto continues to build and sell Avenger 200, which shares almost the same engine as the Pulsar 200, barring a few components.

Of course if Bajaj Auto decides to switch Avenger’s engine with that of the new 220 or even the 180, it can become a bit dicey in the long run for the Pulsar 200 owners.

At the end of the day, I am just happy that it wasn’t the Pulsar 180 which was phased out by Bajaj Auto.