Yamaha India wants to concertrate on the 100cc scooter space that witnesses 80-90% customers and doesn’t think moving higher up with larger engines is needed at this point.
It’s not a surprise that the popularity of scooters in India has urged bike manufacturers to join the bandwagon in a bid to grab a share of the growing pie. Yamaha was one of the recent entrants to the group retailing three scooters in the 110cc segment. While the said segment may be a heavily contested space, the future promises higher capacity scooters to be introduced. However, the Japanese auto giant does not see the potential growth as positively as other companies and recently confirmed that it has no 125cc or higher scooter planned for India in the near future.
In a recent interview, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Yamaha India, Mr. Roy Kurien stated that the company is currently concentrating on the 100cc segment where around 80-90 percent customers are present and the they do not need to make any innovations in a bid to tap the 125cc or 150cc scooter space. Clearly, Yamaha is following the herd when it comes to introducing new products and is looking to establish itself in a segment otherwise ruled by Honda, TVS and Hero MotoCorp.
Yamaha entered the Indian scooter market three years ago with the Ray and Ray Z, which was followed by the Alpha and more recently the Fascino. All scooters from the automaker use the same underpinnings and draw power from the same 113cc single-cylinder air-cooled motor. The models, albeit praised for a number of reasons have also been criticised for being underpowered and a higher capacity mill would’ve made a big difference, at least for the scooter enthusiast.
Despite a long lineup, the Yamaha Fascino is the only one to make a difference in terms of sales and the retro-cool styling has worked in favour of the model. The scooter is drawing close to 20,000 units every month as per the company, making it the automaker’s best selling model at present. The 125cc scooter segment is slowly growing in India with Honda and Suzuki having already established presence. So, is Yamaha missing out on an opportunity once again or does the wait and watch strategy make sense? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.
Source – BikeAdvice.in