Globally Yamaha is known for its brawny and brutally powerful bikes while in some of the Asian markets, the Japanese two-wheeler kingpin also sells low cost commuters which have engines as small as 100cc.
The company is gearing up to increase its presence in the lower end of the spectrum and this strategy would materialize with the help of the new Indian R&D centre which formally started operations yesterday.
Yamaha Motor Research and Development India Pvt. Ltd. (YMRI) is given the lead role in designing and developing low cost motorcycles which will be manufactured in India. These two-wheelers would be the lowest priced products in Yamaha’s global portfolio and would be exported to countries like China where the low cost motorcycles have a good acceptance.
Mr. Yuh Motoyama, GM (engineering section — motorcycle business operations) of Yamaha said: “We are in the process of developing low-cost products from India and these would be sold across major markets, including China.” The pricing of the upcoming products are expected to be less than Yamaha’s current affordable bike, the Crux.
Yamaha hasn’t made a significant dent in the commuter bike segment in India and the brand is always known for performance bikes like the R15, FZ range and the yesteryear’s RD350 and RX100.
