Yamaha is in the process of launching a range of new bikes in India and thus are looking at expanding capacity at its plant in Greater Noida. The company is also looking at exporting bikes to Africa and South America, in a bid to turn profitable. Yamaha India manufactures 6 lakh motorcycles in a year at manufacturing facility in India and plans to increase its R&D capabilities with the help of Yamaha Japan.
“We are in a very severe condition. But we aim to break even by 2013 as we are increasing our production capacity. We plan to raise the capacity of this plant to one million and, by 2013, in the domestic market we aim to sell 800,000 units and 200,000 to be exported,” Hiroyuki Suzuki, MD and CEO of Yamaha India said. “The African markets need basic models such as Crux and FZ and we will export YBR to South America. In Africa, you see three types of motorcycles – mopeds, scooters and street models of motorcycles. These motorcycles are also used for commercial purposes. I mean a rider can have two pillion sitting behind him and he can charge fare from them. So, we will have to change specifications of the bikes, which we plan to export,” he added. “Going forward, we will bring in motorcycles in the range of 200-250cc.”
