Yamaha phases out three bikes on low demand

Bike maker India Yamaha Motor has phased out three of its models from India owing to low demand and new emission norms that kicked in from April 2010. Pankaj Dubey, national business head of India Yamaha Motor, told FE that the company has stopped production of its sub 110 cc bikes Alba and G5 and 125cc Gladiator since the market for these bikes had shrunk considerably.

“If consumer demand is low for certain products then we have to take a call...also there are stringent emission norms,” Dubey said. As per government notification all two-wheelers had to upgrade to Bharat Stage III norms by April 2010. Yamaha, however, decided against upgrading Alba and G5 because of its low demand. The company instead is going to concentrate in the 150cc category to drive up sales.

Dubey said that the company had set a target to achieve 30% market share in the 150cc category. “We are not looking to compete with some of the big names in the Indian motorcycle market...Yamaha is looking to chalk out its own strategy and make our own way into the market,” Dubey said. He added that as per industry average a total of 1 lakh 150cc bikes are sold in the country on an average with Yamaha selling about 10,000 units in the category.

The company sources almost 95% components from Indian vendors, he said.

On Wednesday, the company launched three new models priced between Rs 47,000 and Rs 52,000. The new bikes launched – 150 cc SZ and SZ-X and 123 cc YBR 125 – is an attempt on the part of the company to increase its volumes from the Indian market. “So far, we were only present in the Rs 65,000-Rs 98,000 segments...the bike launches on Wednesday is in a bid to gain volumes from this segment,” he said.