World's cheapest bike by Yamaha at INR 27,500.

After launching successful series of Yamaha bikes in India, Yamaha will develop a motorcycle which will cost as low as INR 27,500.This will be the cheapest motorcycle in the world and it is targeted at the Indian and African market since there is a lot of scope for cheap bikes in these regions. Africa has slowly gained momentum to become the hotspot for bike exports from various Indian and Japanese companies.This is specially targeted to those section of people who can't even afford the entry level segment bikes.

Currently, the cheapest motorcycle in Yamaha’s stable is the 110cc Crux priced at INR 38,365, while Hero Motocorp’s CD-Dawn is the cheapest motorcycle in the India at a price of INR 36,300 which is the current market leader.

Hiroyuki Suzuki, chief executive officer and managing director, India Yamaha Motor  said “Our product benchmark right now (on cost) is the YBR 110 and Crux, but we would like to develop a bike in the low-cost segment for markets like Africa. The target is to make a bike that will cost $500 (about Rs. 27,500). I think such a bike will have a lot of demand in Africa as well as in India.”

This definitely is a good move by Yamaha to enter in this segment after their firm grip in the 150cc segment,this  is bound to get popular among the rural population and has great future.
Yamaha recently announced plans to invest around Rs 1,500 crore to set up a new plant in Tamil Nadu and enhance capacity.

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Yamaha planning to launch 250cc motorcycle in India

Yamaha Motors India has determined the potential of 250cc sports bike in the Indian market and has planned to manufacture a 250cc sports bike locally. When a vehicle is manufactured locally, it attracts zero import duty, thereby allowing the firm to price the product reasonably. When a motorcycle is assembled, it will attract a 30% duty, which will of course be collected from the customers by increasing the price tag. Kawasaki Ninja 250R is one such bike in India which is assembled here, which when compared to the price of locally manufactured CBR250R is very high.

We earlier mentioned in our article of upcoming motorcycle launches in 2012 that Yamaha may launch its 250cc motorcycle in India. According to news reported by Business Standard, the company is now planning to manufacture its 250cc motorcycle in India which is schedule to launch in this year.
HMSI has been clocking an average of 3,000 units of CBR250R every month, which is local made. When the Yamaha’s adversary, Honda, has gained the success in the 250cc sports bike category, the firm obviously should not shy away from launching a product in the same segment.

The firm has collected feedback from customers who already possess a 250cc sports bike in India. They feel that there is still a lot of scope for improvement in their 250cc bike which could make it a perfect sports bike. Yamaha is studying the market condition and requirement by the book.
Yamaha already sells Fazer 250 in several foreign countries. The question is, whether they will launch the Fazer 250 or design a new bike especially to cater the Indian market.

Roy Kurian, national business head, India Yamaha Motor, said, “The market for 250cc is growing and we are studying that. There are a couple of models in that segment and people are upgrading to 250cc bikes. We will do 100 per cent localization of that bike”.

It doesn’t make any sense in speculating the R25 without any official news from the firm. We’ll keep you updated on this, so keep visiting bikoholic.com
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Yamaha launches new 2012 Edition of Fazer .

Recently we saw Yamaha come up with some minor changes in the styling department of the FZ series  and introduced an all new color i.e. Fiery Orange for FZ-S , now Yamaha have come up with a refreshed version of Fazer with almost identical changes as in the FZ-S . The color options in the Fazer remain the same , they haven't introduced any new color .

Changes in Fazer include  :

• New Grab Rails with better grip and support to the pillion rider .

• Longer and wider pillion seat which now provides  ample amount of space for the pillion.

• Large & Wide rear fender which prevents mud splashing through rear tyres.

• New Stylish Chain Protector for  safety of people wearing loose clothing.

About the engine specifications of the bike , Yamaha have mentioned on their official website about the torque of the bike to be 13.6 Nm against the earlier versions 14 Nm , now even Yamaha concentrating on the Mileage figures !!

Price of 2012 Fazer is INR 76,380 (ex showroom Delhi)

The customers have 4 color options for 2012 Yamaha Fazer :Competition White, Black Cyber Green, Lava Red, Midnight Black .

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Japan's Yamaha Motor Co to set up a Third Plant in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is emerging as a hot spot for investors with various automobile companies such as Nissan, BMW, Hyundai, Ford, Daimler already operating there . TVS and Royal Enfield also have major plants set up in Tamil Nadu . Now there has been a report in  Business Standard that Japanese two-wheeler giant Yamaha is understood to have finalised a location in Tamil Nadu to set up its third facility in India to expand its operations.

Yamaha  has shortlisted Tamil Nadu out of three states, including Karnataka and Maharashtra, and will sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by May this year.

Yamaha is now trying to ramp up its operations in India in order to compete with its peers like Honda and Suzuki but also the top two-wheeler makers like Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj .
We recently saw Honda marching past Bajaj in terms of monthly sales , Yamaha also needs to ramp up its production to compete with them .

The company plans to invest Rs 800 crore in the next two years on capacity enhancement,the new plant is said to be fully functional till 2014 after which company sales in India  might increase upto 10 lakh unit against the 3.3 lakh unit in 2011 .

Yamaha Motor currently has two manufacturing units at Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana and produces motorcycles for both domestic and export markets. In the current year, the company hopes to clock sales of 4.5 lakh units and 6.5 lakh units next year in India.

After launching successful series of Yamaha bikes in Indian bike market, Yamaha is going to make its entry in scooter market of India with the all new Yamaha Ray .
The Yamaha Ray concept scooter, which will be the first scooter offering from the Japanese brand for the Indian market, could be launched before the Indian festive season of Diwali 2012.

To know more about Yamaha Ray Scooter click HERE

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Yamaha Named Strongest Motorcycle Brand of 2012 by Harris Poll

When you think of soft drinks, you picture Coca-Cola. When you think of cell phones, you picture the Apple iPhone. When you think of cookies, you picture Oreos. When you think of motorcycles, you picture … Yamaha?

That’s right. Yamaha edged out Harley-Davidson as the strongest motorcycle brand in the U.S. for 2012, according to the Harris Poll EquiTrend study of the country’s healthiest brands.

According to the Harris Poll EquiTrend study of the country’s healthiest brands, Yamaha has come out on top edging out Harley Davidson. Yamaha is now the strongest motorcycle brand in U.S for 2012.
Harris Poll EquiTrend has been comparing brands in various categories since 1989 to determine the overall healthiest brand in U.S. Brand equity, Customer connection and the overall hype are the parameters on which brands strength is judged.

For this year a total of 38,529 consumers over the age of 15 were surveyed, in which they were asked to rate 40 randomly selected brands. Every brand out of 1,529 brands were evaluated 1000 times, on the basis of rating received from a varied range of people belonging to different ages, genders, ethnicities, regions and income. All the ratings were weighed using the same methodology Harris uses for Election Polling.

In the motorcycle segment five brands were evaluated by consumers namely Harley Davidson, Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Yamaha topped with a rating of 50.88 edging out last year’s winner Harley Davidson, which received a rating of 50.33. Score for the rest of the brands were not revealed, but it was told they are below the category of 48.20.
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Yamaha Ray concept scooter could be launched by October 2012 .

After launching successful series of Yamaha bikes in Indian bike market, Yamaha is going to make its entry in scooter market of India. During last Auto Expo 2012 held in Delhi ,Yamaha had showcased its first concept scooter Yamaha Ray. Though at the time of curtain raising Yamaha had not revealed any technical specification about the scooter but the scooter will be enriched with 125cc engine , producing around 10 bhp of power .

The Yamaha Ray will be directly competing against Suzuki Access , Piaggio Vespa and the recently launched Honda Dio 110 . Yamaha have designed the scooter with the perspective  to suit Indian women and hence, expect the production version of the Ray concept scooter to also feature similar dimensions.

Hiroyuki Suzuki , CEO & MD , Indian Yamaha Motor said,"We have developed a scooter that has got the Yamaha DNA and signifies ' Cool and Beauty image , which are the right words for describing young Indian girls ".

This clearly states that Yamaha Ray scooter will be targeted towards woman riders and expected to bear a price tag of around Rs. 50,000/-

Additional features adorned in Yamaha Ray include dynamic and elegant design, powerful, and fuel efficient engine, comfortable long and wide seat, large storage space, smooth suspension, dynamic braking system, stylish headlamps, silver tone back mirror, impressive instrument panel and stylish alloy wheels. It will be available in two color options of pink and yellow.

Yamaha plans to launch more scooter models in India , the reason for this rapid growth in scooter is due to high demand of scooters from the segment of working women. As a part of its plan for 2012 company speculates to sale 450,000 units in domestic market and export 1,90,000 units.

The Yamaha Ray concept scooter, which will be the first scooter offering from the Japanese brand for the Indian market, could be launched before the Indian festive season of Diwali 2012.

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Yamaha to empower Ray scooter with 125cc engine

After launching successful series of Yamaha bikes in Indian bike market, Yamaha is going to make its entry in scooter market of India. During last Auto Expo 2012 held in Delhi during last month Yamaha had showcased its first concept scooter Yamaha Ray. Though at the time of curtain raising Yamaha had not revealed any technical specification about the scooter but there were rumors that scooter will be enriched with 125cc engine. Now after the period of more than a month is gone there are reports confirming that Ray will be enriched with 125cc engine. Recently during its meeting with investors Yamaha has revealed its strategy of extending its business plan in Indian two-wheeler market and indicated that company is speculated to launch 125cc engine in Indian scooter market.

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India Yamaha Motor begins the year with a bang; registers 40 % sales growth

India Yamaha Motor rang in the New Year with high sales growth backed by its dynamic product portfolio, registering an overall sales growth of 40%. In the domestic market Yamaha sold 26,300 units in January 2012 vs. 21,974 units sold in the same period last year thereby registering a 20% sales growth. The export figures stood at 13,640 units in January 2012 while 6,623 motorcycles were exported in January 2011. The overall sales stood at 39,940 units in January 2012 vs. 28,597 units in January 2011.

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