Scooter aimed at women and slated for late 2012 launch

Yamaha Motor marked its foray into the scooter segment by showcasing the Ray prototype at the Delhi Auto Expo 2012. Bollywood hunk and Yamaha brand ambassador John Abraham was on hand to unveil the concept scooter, in a dark pink shade, which suggests that the scooter is aimed at women.

Commenting on the occasion, Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO & MD, India Yamaha Motor, said, “We have developed a scooter prototype that has got the Yamaha DNA and signifies ‘Cool and Beauty’ image, which are the right words for describing young Indian girls. With the launch of our scooter model later this year, Yamaha would now be present across all growing two-wheeler segments.”

The Yamaha Ray concept aside, the company also showcased the Mio, Fino and Xeon scooters, currently sold in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Among bikes, Yamaha has on display the MotoGP special YZR M1 and limited-edition versions of the recently updated YZF R15, which is just a paint/sticker job. One of the bikes has flare-patterned graphics and the other white and red racing colours to celebrate Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary of Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix. Only 4,000 units of the special edition bikes will be sold. The R15 50th Anniversary Limited Edition model will carry a showroom tag of Rs. 1,11,000 while the Limited Edition Fiery Red model will be available at Rs. 1,10,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Scooters will account for 30% of Yamaha’s total sales by 2014, said Suzuki. Yamaha further reinforced its commitment to the Indian market by announcing investment plans of Rs. 800 crore over the next two years and a sales target of 1 million units in 2013. The plan includes setting up a new plant for which land is being acquired in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu.