Yamaha FZ1 coming in December

After launching the iconic Yamaha R1 and MT-01 , India Yamaha Motors is now planning to introduce Yamaha FZ1 in India in a bid to corner the high-margin power bike market. The super bike will be launched in December and will be priced between Rs 8-9 lakh.

Yamaha FZ1, with its 1000cc and four cylinders , would compete with the recentlylaunched Honda CB1000R. It is pitted in the same category as the Suzuki Bandit and Kawasaki Z1000S in the international market.

Superbikes are big-performance bikes with engine capacity of 500 cc and above. Japanese automakers such as Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki are top players in superbikes space along with Ducati and BMW . Most of them are now present in India.

Japanese bike manufacturer is believed to have sent the FZ1 for homologation. “The bike is priced cheaper than the Honda CB1000R, which is the cheapest imported superbike currently sold. The bike will be imported as CBU from Australia or Japan,” said people close to development. It is also believed to be considering the semi-knocked down (SKD) route for the FZ1. This will help Yamaha to price the FZ1 competitively.

Yamaha, which sells super bikes in the range of Rs 14-24 lakh, plans to sell over 80-100 super bikes in India in 2010. The company hopes bike enthusiasts will overlook the cost factor and lap up its products just for the iconic value they have gained on other markets, said people close to the development. Such bikes are often featured in local automobile magazines which are read by most bike enthusiasts, who are a target market.

“There will be fierce competition in coming time, so we are gearing up for that. the company is following top to bottom strategy to conenct to the youth,” said a senior official from India Yamaha . Besides, the company is firming up plans to enhance capacity at its existing plant in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. “We have a order backlog of 10,000 every month and plans to debottle the manufacturing plant to cater to the growing demand ,” said the official. Currently it has the capacity to manufacture 3.5 lakh bikes, this can be ramped up to 8 lakhs.