Will Peugeot boost Mahindra’s mojo?

It might be some time before Mahindra and Mahindra’s plans of buying Peugeot’s scooter business actually falls in place, but the move is certainly debatable. Sure, scooter sales have been growing every year in India, but Mahindra is certainly a small player compared to Honda, Yamaha and Hero Motocorp. But then again, there is growing demand for premium scooters in India, and Peugeot does make a lot of them.

After acquiring Kinetic Motors’ scooter business, Mahindra’s most successful models, Rodeo RZ and Duro DZ, have been 125cc ones. At a speculative stage, we can only imagine that it will be feasible for Mahindra to bring in Peugeot’s 125cc scooters, owing to the demand and the company’s own experience. We take a peek inside Peugeot’s stable, to see if any of their scooters make sense for Indian roads.

Street scooters From the entire lot of scooters that Peugeot sells in Europe, the Vivacity 125 is one which looks quite apt for Indian roads. It comes with specs very similar to the 125cc scooters we’ve seen in India. It’s got a 125cc engine that churns out 6.12kW of peak power, 200mm front disc and 130mm rear drum brakes, 12-inch alloy wheels, 22-liter under-seat storage and digital instrument cluster. It also comes with sharp yet universal styling. The electric version of this scooter, the e-Vivacity, costs a whopping €4,299 (around ₹3.4 lakh)

The 125cc workhorse that Peugeot produces is the Tweet 125 – if you don’t mind the rather unimaginative name, the Tweet 125 can impress with a torquey motor, 16-inch wheels, twin-shocks and disc brakes at both front and rear, and large under-seat storage. It looks like a mid-range step-through.

Super-premium The most premium of the lot, however, is Peugeot’s Satelis 125. The maxi-scooter comes with a low-friction 125cc mill which makes a massive 11kW of peak power.

More than the engine, the Satelis 125’s other features are the ones that make it a premium scooter. The Satelis is built around a steel dual cradle chassis, and has 37mm forks in the front. To give it agility and confident handling around the city, Peugeot has thrown in Michelin tyres and a turning circle of 86-degrees. One can see typical maxi-scooter features, such as an enormous 450mm screen and a wide apron on the front. The seats come in split configuration, and there’s enough storage space under it to stow away two full face helmets. The problem, however, is the price.

The Satelis 125 premium scooter costs around €4,000.

Of course, the prices may come down if Mahindra decides to build these scooters locally. Even then, we think that Peugeot scooters will be slotted into the premium category – that is, if they find a way into the Indian markets soon.

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