Yamaha to ride in 3 new bikes this year

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Mumbai, Jan 11: Yamaha Motor India Private Ltd would launch three new bikes in India including Gladiator Type SS and RS (125 cc), YZF- R15 (150 cc, liquid cooled) and FZ (150 cc, air-cooled) this year. The company also plans to invest Rs 700-800 crore in the country to go into product development, marketing and manufacturing, indicated P Sam, group head, marketing and sales, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd.

Showcasing the three new bikes at the 9th Auto Expo at New Delhi, Sanjay Tripathi, department head, product planning and strategy, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd, said that the bikes, in sync with the Yamaha DNA, have features from the original bikes with fine tuning being done to fit the Indian needs.

Like the YZF-R15 has percolated technology from R1. It also has the R1 six-speed transmission. Similarly, the FZ is being toned down to 150 cc from the existing global version of 1,000 cc.

“In the coming three years, we plan to concentrate on sports bikes,” said Kajikawa Takashi, president and chief executive officer, Yamaha Motors Co. Ltd.

Adding that the company plans to turnaround the future of Yamaha in India. Recently, the company launched Super Sports YZF-R1 (1,000 cc) and Torque Sports MTO1 (1,670 cc) in India.

Starting this February, Gladiator Type SS will hit the Indian roads followed by RS version of Gladiator by March. YZF-R15 will be launched by middle of this year and FZ by November. Acknowledging the fact that Yamaha was not a very competitive player in the Indian market, the newly appointed chief executive officer and managing director, Tsutomu Mabuchi, said, “We are not strong and competitive player. We want to strengthen our presence here with the support from Yamaha (Japan).”

“We plan to strengthen our dealership network,” he added. The company plans to take its dealership network from existing 375 to 500 in 18-24 months from now.