Japanese auto major Yamaha has announced a realignment of its scooter business in India while unveiling a slew of new scooters and bikes for the domestic market.

In scooters, the company, which has been struggling to grow its volumes and market share in India despite having adequate models, will stop selling 110cc scooters from April next year and focus only on 125cc scooters and above. It will phase out its 110cc scooters such as Fascino, Alpha and among others.

In tune with the revised strategy, the company unveiled three new 125cc scooters — Fascino 125 FI, Ray ZR 125 and Street Rally 125 FI, which are BS VI-compliant, on Thursday in Chennai. While Fascino 125 FI
Ray, will be priced between ₹66,430 and ₹69,930, prices for the other two 125cc scooters will be announced later. The pricing appears to be aggressive when compared with the competition’s products, such as Honda Activa.

The new strategy has been necessitated due to an increasing shift to high-performance 125cc scooters from 110cc models in India. The 125cc scooter segment has been bucking the two-wheeler trend in the country. “The market is evolving and maturing. More and more young customers are opting for 125cc scooters for more power and performance,” said Ravinder Singh, Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Planning, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd.

The new Fascino 125 FI will have 30 per cent more power

Scan & Share output and 16 per cent higher fuel efficiency than its 110cc scooters, besides incorporating new technologies. The company aims to target more young customers with it.

It will start producing the 125cc scooters from January and will ship to dealerships during the fourth quarter.
Yamaha India aims to sell 1,92,000 units of Fascino 125 FI and 1,16,000 units of Ray ZR 125 FI and Street Rally 125 FI in the calendar year 2020.

The company also introduced two new bikes in the 155 cc segment — BS VI-compliant MT15 and R15, with new features, including ABS and rear radial tyres. “The current slowdown in the auto market is temporary and we hope the market will bounce back soon as the Indian market offers huge potential for future growth,” said Motofumi Shitara, Chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group of companies.

The company expects to end the current calendar year 2018 with total sales of 6.24 lakh units and for 2020 it targets 6.5 lakh units, including bikes and scooters.