Will Yamaha Really Bring The Tracer To India?

Recently, we stumbled across a trademark that Yamaha India has filed for its adventure touring motorcycle series, the Tracer. This sort of news should spark some form of excitement for enthusiasts, right? But no. It seems like it is going to be just a trademark and not an actual motorcycle to go on sale in India. Here’s why:

The Approval Period
Usually, it takes somewhere from 6-8 months for a trademark filing to be approved, if there are no objections. Earlier, this same process would take somewhere close to 15-18 months. Once approved, the trademark rights remain with the applicant for a period of 10 years. Yamaha filed the application for the Tracer in 2017 and we guess the Japanese bikemaker found no objection in getting it approved. So, technically, it shouldn’t need to rejournal it again before 2027. But this February, it did, just a couple of months after the new Tracers were launched in Europe.

Common Practice
International brands, especially automobile manufacturers, are known to trademark their global products in the country and not actually bring them. Honda has done it numerous times, with the Grom, Scoopy, and PCX, amongst others, being patented but never brought to our shores.

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Non-existent Product Family In India
After being the first manufacturer to introduce big bikes to the country via the official channel in the early 2000s, Yamaha is one of the only few international brands to not sell big bikes in the country. The R1 and the MT-09 were the final two products that were on sale in India but we have seen nothing so far from Iwata heading here. Neither have the BS6 versions of the aforementioned two bikes been launched so far nor does Yamaha plan on bringing other models.

Lack Of Activity In Product Planning
Yamaha India has shown very little inclination of bringing the 700cc CP2 engine platform to the country. After the not-so-great response to the R3, Yamaha has shied away from CKD operations for relatively smaller displacement products. Now, to set up the necessary infrastructure for CKD operations for more motorcycles, Yamaha will have to invest in expanding its facilities, which again looks unlikely.

Ultimately, the Tracer will remain absent from India until Yamaha actually steps up its game and intends to go big with its big bikes.