India Yamaha Motor has recently equipped itself with a new R&D centre which has capabilities to develop a bike from scratch.
The Japanese bike maker has already announced that the Indian technical centre will be tasked with developing an ultra low cost commuter bike which will also be exported to China. It seems that the new R&D centre now has a even bigger responsibility to undertake.
Yamaha is planning to develop and build global models in India in the 100 to 200cc segment which will be exported to emerging markets, European countries and even to Japan.
Speaking to Times of India, Mr. Hiroyuki Yanagi, president and CEO of Yamaha Motor Co stated that, "India is a low-cost market, but we are not looking at just that. We want to develop sporty and stylish models from here and these would be for European markets and Asian markets."
The KTM Duke 125 and 200 model which are manufactured in India are selling well in Europe. That would've given Yamaha the confidence to develop and build low displacement global bikes in India.
As of 2012, India Yamaha Motor has sold 4.9 lakh units out of which 1.4 lakh units were taken up by exports. Once the proposed new product is ready, the export volume is set to rise, giving India Yamaha a much needed boost. The Indian subsidiary is among the top 10 operations for Yamaha worldwide and its expected to reach the top 5 by 2016.
A Made-in-India global motorcycle from Yamaha is certainly an exciting proposition!
[Source: TimesofIndia.Indiatimes.com]
