The Hindu Business Line : Yamaha to roll out scooter next year

“The scooter that is to be launched will have an engine as equally powerful as a motorcycle engine, while the transmission will be automatic. In addition to the scooter, the company also plans to launch two motorcycles.”

Our Bureau

Chennai, Dec 4 Yamaha Motor India Sales Private Ltd plans to launch its first scooter next year. Since inception, the company was banking only on motorcycles despite the fact that gearless scooters account for about 15 per cent of two-wheelers sold in India.

The Division Head (product planning & strategy) of the company, Mr Sanjay Tripathi, told Business Line that the scooter that is to be launched will have an engine as equally powerful as a motorcycle engine, while the transmission will be automatic. In addition to the scooter, the company also plans to launch two motorcycles, he said.

No 2 player

Present in over 40 countries with 114 subsidies, the $187-billion Yamaha Motor Corporation has been largely successful in other two-wheeler markets it has been operating in, positioning itself as a number two player in the world.

Right from inception in 1985, the company maintained about 20 per cent market share with three products RX 100, RX 135 and 350-cc four stroke motorcycles. It maintained a market share of about 20 per cent till early 1990s. When the market was transforming from two-stroke to four-stroke motorcycles, the company did not offer suitable products as its peers did. Its market share dropped to less than two per cent last year.

Yamaha Motor sold 1.15 lakh units between January and December 2007 and in 2008 it sold 1.4 lakh units in the first 10 months.

And now, the company is trying to recover lost ground.

Products range

In addition to the existing range of products such as Gladiator, Gladiator Graffiti, G5, Alba and Crux, the company launched two motorcycles this year - YZF-R15 (150-cc) and FZ 16 (153-cc). The company also sells two imported bikes – the 1,670-cc MT01 and 998-cc YZF-R1.

These two bikes helped the company grow by 44 per cent to 19,000 units in October this year against same month last year, when the two-wheeler industry reported negative trend.

Since launch in June the company sold 13,000 units of R15s and the hopes to sell 21,000 units by December, he said. In the case of FZ 16 it has orders for 22,000 units, he added.

In addition to launching two new motorcycles next year, the company is planning to introduce Yamaha Direct Shops in more cities. Currently, it has two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai and Pune. Soon it would open one in Kolkata, Mr Tripathi said.

Yamaha India is conducting ‘Ridetech’ events promoting racing culture in the country, which would also help it promote the brand image of the company, he said. Besides, it will also enhance range of signature apparels sold at select dealerships. Currently, it sells riding gears such as helmet, jacket, gloves and T-shirt. Soon it will introduce shoes and some accessories such as rear seat cowl and sporty tailpipe.

In order to support sales, the company will introduce its in-house finance arm, Bussan Auto Finance in all its dealerships in two years. Currently, Bussan is present in a third of Yamaha’s dealers in India.

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