John Abraham has in him a combination of a supermodel, an actor, and now, a successful film producer. But one facet of his personality that has come to be the defining point of his image is his passion for bikes and motorsport. With long standing associations with brands such as Castrol and Yamaha, the actor is clued in on the Indian bike market, so much so that he sits on Yamaha India?s board as an advisor. The Bollywood hunk chats with FE?s Sukalp Sharma & Rajat Guha on his association with auto brands, and about his dream project of producing a film on motorsport. Edited excerpts:

You have had a long-standing relationship with Yamaha; you also sit on their board. But Yamaha seems to be losing the race. After Hero Moto Corp, the battle for the second place now is between Bajaj and Honda, and Yamaha is no where close to these rivals. What, according to you, are the roadblocks?

Yamaha in the sub-160 cc mass category is not very strong. It’s still known as the niche bike. And there Yamaha is still far stronger than it is in the mass segment. In terms of distribution as well, Yamaha is clearly not out there. Hero holds the fort there. I feel Yamaha will take time. As far as I am concerned, I believe that Yamaha needs to be very clear about its goals and the target group they want to reach. It’s just a matter of deciding if they want to target the masses, and from there they need to create commercials and marketing campaigns based on that.

But India is still predominantly a mass motorcycle market. Yamaha seems to be confused about its positioning in the market. Do you agree?

I believe that Yamaha is very clear that they don’t want to get into the mass market segment in a very aggressive way. They are following the top-down approach. Right now, they are up there and now it’s for them to really go down to the lowest strata and reach the functional market. But it is a long drawn process and will take time. With any Japanese manufacturer, across the board, it takes about 18 months to even get one change. I feel even I need to play a larger part in making sure that the brand reaches out to as many people as possible.

Castrol was one of the first brands you chose to endorse around eight years ago. How has the association been over the years?

It has, indeed, been my longest standing association. I don’t think there have been more than just a handful of associations which have been longer than this. It’s a beautiful marriage between Castrol and me. We have believed in each other through times good and bad. And it’s just not an endorsement for me. I believe in the brand Castrol and at the end of the day I do use Castrol Power 1.

Like Yamaha, would you like to have an extended role at Castrol as well?

If Castrol wants me to be in a position like that and requires my contribution, I’d love to take it up. Biking and associated product categories are the closest to my heart. Castrol has initiated a lot of exciting programmes and initiatives. Like the ‘Great Indian Road Trip’. It’s 13,000 km, 25 cities, 500 groups of riders, 5,000 motorcyclists who’ve met along the way. Their Facebook page has 300,000 members and 3.5 million people have actually gone on and seen the Great India Road trip through social media. These are massive numbers. At the end of the day, Castrol is not only taking care of its brand and brand value, they are also enriching the biking brotherhood. With Castrol, the initiatives they run are so strong that I keep myself involved with them. I’m passionate to be a part of a brand that endorses and promotes biking.

Do you advice Castrol on any aspect of their consumer strategy or marketing?

No. Castrol is very clear in terms of communication. Their creatives are very strong and the objectives are very clear. Castrol is known as much as an Indian brand as it is known as an international brand. It’s like Bata shoes, which you’d feel is an Indian brand but actually it isn’t. SoCastrol is such a big part of the Indian DNA that they understand the consumers, they understand distribution at ever possible level. So there is not much that I can contribute in terms of creative ideas or in terms of marketing ideas.

What about your association with Audi?

There is no endorsement association with Audi per say. But let’s just say that I am an Audi customer and I’ve been a loyal Audi customer. I like the car. I’m the kind of a guy who goes into the engine, the technology and I love the Quattro technology that Audi has. I have an Audi Q7 and I really enjoy the car and the brand.

You recently turned a producer and your film Vicky Donor has been fairly successful. You are also known to be a biking enthusiast. Now, do you have any plans to marry these two and produce a film around biking?

There is an off-road race that exists in North America called the Baja 1000. It’s a 1,000-mile race that takes place on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. I watched a documentary on the race and I absolutely fell in love with it. I want to produce a film based on the Baja 1000. Initial talks are on but it’s still a long way away. If everything falls in place, we go to floor by 2014. That will be my answer to Dhoom and it will be about serious biking. And yes, I plan to act in it too. I am looking at it as a two-hero film. So if I’ll be on a bike then there will be someone in a car. And I will be looking at every aspect of biking in the film.