Brands
Bajaj Auto to use digital, on-ground activities to promote new KTM 790 Duke
MUMBAI: The economic slowdown will not impact the performance of KTM 790 Duke, Bajaj Auto Ltd senior manager (probiking) Vikas Iyer told Indiantelevision.com just after the launch of the superbike in nine cities-Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Guwahati.
He said that there are only around 2 lakh superbikes in the country right now, and the riders of those are actively willing to level up. However, the brand is providing easy ownership options to the buyers through the tie-up with Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd, keeping in mind the impact the current economy might be having on the budgets of enthusiasts. “Going ahead, we are going to have a lot of our dealerships tying up with local financial service providers as well,” Iyer revealed.
Iyer shared that the brand will be focusing highly on digital and on-ground activation activities for the select consumer base they are planning to target. He mentioned that the brand doesn’t spend much on marketing, but the budgets are equally divided between digital and on-ground activities.
“In three months, we will be starting off with super rides and super track dates, which are to give the customers first-hand great riding experience on roads, highways, and on tracks. We are planning to give the riders an in-depth track race sort of experience to make them understand what the 790 Duke is capable of doing. It is going to be a sort of mentoring session,” Iyer said.
Iyer also shared that that brand has just started off with its influencer marketing activities as well to target the biking enthusiasts on social media.
“We are interacting with influencers who are helping us create a lot of content. In fact, it (superbiking) is a space where they also are trying to venture (in a bigger, better way), and we are trying to figure out what we could do together; how we can make fans out there, better bikers,” he quipped.
The KTM 790 Duke was launched in Mumbai on Monday. Also present at the launch was Bajaj Auto Ltd president (probiking) Sumeet Narang who indicated that the brand will soon be launching a few more products in the 200-390 cc section in the coming months.
He also hinted towards the development of select products for the biking enthusiasts in the adventure tourism space, which might be launched in the coming 12 months in India.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
