Yamaha working on a new low-cost bike

Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha has officially confirmed that it is working on a project to develop a small bike, which it aims to sell for around Rs 30,000 in India. The company however did not confirm any timeframe for the launch of this new bike. 

It is expected that this new bike would be a bare basic offering with a 100/110cc powerplant that would be designed to be high on fuel-efficiency and low on maintenance. The target audience for the new motorcycle will be the rural areas where Yamaha hasn't been able to make a mark for itself till now. Yamaha officials did not divulge more details about this new bike except for the fact that India would be the first market for this new product.

Earlier, media was abuzz with reports of Yamaha working on a low-cost bike, but the Japanese bike manufacturer remained tight-lipped about its project. The company has officially confirmed this news for the first time ever since. While addressing the media, Toshikazu Kobayashi, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Research and Development, India, said, “The project is on. At this time we are not sure if the end product will cost US $500, less or more. But we are working on the project keeping US $500 as the benchmark price. We are trying our best.”

At present, Yamaha has a negligible presence in the entry-level segment, but is strong in the 150cc segment, where it sells around 18,000 units per month. Currently, the two-wheeler manufacturer is focusing to consolidate its position in the 150cc segment and the scooter vertical before venturing into other segments. 

With this new bike, Yamaha will be looking at boosting its sales by a huge margin as the entry-level motorcycles accounts for the highest percentage of sales in our market. Yamaha will be hoping that with this new low-cost bike it could ape the success it has achieved with the Ray series of scooters as the scooters have been instrumental in hiking its sales figure by a commendable margin.