Yamaha hopes to meet sales target in 2011

The Indian two wheeler market which is dominated by three Indian manufacturers namely Bajaj, Hero Honda and TVS will now see competition from Japanese bike manufacturer Yamaha and Honda, with Suzuki also gaining ground. Though Honda has much bigger plans, the Indian subsidiary of Yamaha Motors, India Yamaha Motor has targeted a sale of 1mn units in a few years time.

The Managing Director and CEO of the company, Hiroyuki Suzuki, said that they are planning to make an investment of $10mn in India by 2012, for expanding their capacity and extending their reach in the smaller cities by providing high end products to meet this target. He also said that they intend to introduce Yamaha scooters in the market by next year.

He said that they will be sharing more details soon. The definitely see their venture into this category as something, which will help strengthen their position in this market. they hope that their entry into this category will offer impetus for boosting their sales along with increasing their market share.

He said, explaining their market strategy to achieve their 10% sales target that they will introduce high end models as they are performing well in deluxe and luxury categories where they have set a target of 20% by year end. They are also witnessing an increasing demand for these products in B to C segment towns, as well as rural markets. They have set a target of selling 1mn models in two years time and investing $10mn by next year for increasing their capacity and the development of new products.

He also mentioned about achieving their 14% market share target in the deluxe category in the past two months. Regarding the company’s third proposed facility, he said that they already have plants in Surajpur, Uttar Pradesh and in Faridabad Haryana. Their plant at Surajpur has a production capacity of 600,000 bikes per annum, that can be further expanded to 1mn units per annum, whereas their plant in Faridabad manufacturers auto components and engines, because of which they do not feel the need to open a third facility. However, he said that they would begin planning for a third facility by year end.