Today’s Yamaha event was speculated to be a scooter launch but as we reported earlier, it would mostly be an announcement. Turns out, Yamaha has just unveiled its brand ambassador for children (a mascot), who would teach them traffic rules. With this announcement, Yamaha hopes to inculcate traffic sense in children, who are going to be the future motorists of our roads. Yamaha’s mascot has been made to appeal to kids but the name hasn’t been decided and the company is running a naming contest where kids aged between 5-12 years can participate. 80% of Yamaha customers are young and hence this move to build the brand among children.
Prospective 2-wheeler buyers have high expectations from Yamaha. Post the launch of the FZ-16 and R15, almost everyone is waiting for some big news from the Japanese company. After the arrival of performance bikes from the KTM stable, many expected Yamaha to bring in a 250cc bike to India with multiple reports citing the same. However the company hasn’t shown any urgency for the same and our conversation with the top management revealed the plans of focussing on entry-level offerings for higher volumes in the Indian market.
Yamaha will be launching a new unisex scooter later this year and we expect to see it at the 2014 Auto Expo. The R25 Concept was unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show and the production spec model’s images have recently been leaked. With Bajaj, KTM, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Hyosung all betting on the performance segment, is Yamaha too late to the party? The R25 is expected to reach Indian soil only next year, a time by which Kawasaki is expected to bring in its affordable quarter-litre machine, the Ninja 250SL. Yamaha has grown by 32.5% and is upgrading its service centres for a better experience.
