Piaggio, Aprilia’s parent company is toying with the idea of introducing mid-capacity motorcycles for the Indian market and developing markets abroad, reports Autocar Professional.
Aprilia already sells its performance scooter, the Aprilia SR 150 in the local market. The brand manufactures the scooter at its Baramati plant in Maharashtra. Recently, it also launched the SR 125 for the budget-conscious audience at the Auto Expo last month. Apart from these two scooters, the rest of the premium products enter the country via the CBU route. This includes bikes like the Tuono V4 1100, RSV4 RF, Shiver 900 and the Dorsoduro 900. Speaking to the media house about the burgeoning mid-capacity segment, Diego Graffi, CEO & MD of Piaggio Vehicles, India Operations said:
Apart from the superbike segment, we are not present in any other motorcycle category in India at the moment. In my personal view, the 250cc-400cc motorcycle is the most interesting category. You see that a lot of players are shaping up products or thinking of that category for the India market. So, definitely we are looking at that as we have a high level of interest not only in the India market but in other global markets too. If you go to South Asian markets, and also in Europe, you will see a general trend that bike makers are going after the midsize motorcycle category. Whenever we plan to enter the market with these products (mid-capacity motorcycles), we will look at full localisation because we have to keep the prices affordable here.
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At the expo, the brand also showcased the RS 150 and Tuono 150 in order to gauge the response of the customers in the 150 cc segment. Graffi revealed that the bikes showcased were prototype models, designed and developed at the Piaggio facility in Italy. Graffi added that the two motorcycles were performance models for people looking at the fun-quotient.
According to Graffi, the brand is assessing the potential of this market and the mid-capacity segment through its investigation. The company is also working on the back-end for this segment. Graffi also revealed that the entry-level Aprilia motorcycles will come in two versions; and will be for the domestic market, manufactured locally.
[Source: Autocar Professional]
