Yamaha is betting big on the Indian market and will also focus on performance products in the country. The automaker plans to offer a slew of performance bikes to woo enthusiasts.
Yamaha is a brand which is synonym with performance motorcycling but such hasn’t been the case off late, more so in the Indian market. The Japanese automaker has chosen to go slowly with new motorcycle launches, concentrating solely on scooters for the time being but that is all set to change soon. That’s right, Yamaha plans to launch a multitude of performance products in the country over the next two years, getting motivation from the increase in demand for performance bikes and the entry of new brands like Triumph and Benelli.
Yamaha will be launching the R3 in India around the festive season, the company has chosen to bring the bigger, for developed markets R3, rather than the R25. ABS will be standard on the R3, whose 321cc, twin-cylinder engine produces 42 PS and 29.6 Nm. That figure is lower than the single-cylinder KTM RC 390 but out on the road, expect the YZF machine to give the orange machine a tough fight. Pricing is expected to be around Rs. 3 lakhs (ex-showroom) with other competition coming in the form of the Kawasaki Ninja 300.
The other bike and the more important one is the Yamaha MT25 which is still set to be unveiled globally. Under testing since the past couple of months, the 250cc street-fighter will find its way to India by the end of this year, priced at around Rs. 2.5 lakhs. It will draw power from the same parallel-twin unit that does duty in the R25, belting out 36 PS of power and 22.6 Nm of torque, fighting it out with the KTM Duke 390, Benelli TNT 300 and the Kawasaki Z250. The Japanese company will also launch the new R1 and MT-07 in India, so finally we can say ‘Yes Yamaha!’.
