In a recent interaction with Ravinder Singh, senior vice president – sales and marketing, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd, we have learnt that Yamaha is working on an EV for India, but has no plans to bring the popular XSR155 to India any time soon. In fact, the company also has no intention to restart its big-bike operation, which has been inactive since the BS6 deadline of April 1, 2020.
No CKD or CBU from Yamaha this year
Company’s focus is on 150-250cc motorcycles
India’s wait for the eagerly anticipated 700cc platform will continue
Yamaha used to retail a number of big bikes in India over the years via the CBU route. The most recent were the R1 and R1M superbikes as well as the MT-09 street naked. While those bikes were priced at a premium, the company also had its popular R3 on sale here via the CKD route. While many have been waiting for Yamaha to bring back these bikes, as well as introduce India to its acclaimed middle-weight models like the MT-07, Tenere 700 and the new R7, it appears that the company has other plans
Singh tells us, “Globally, we are known for our big bikes, but what we are seeing is that the scope and capacity of the Indian market at this moment doesn’t have that kind of volume and maturity. We have the products, and we can explore it as per the balance between customer requirements and volume, but at this moment, we are focusing on our 150-250cc platforms. We will explore it if the demand increases, but at this moment, there is no plan.”
When we asked, Singh confirmed that this involved the Yamaha R3 as well, and that we would not be seeing any big bikes from Yamaha at least this year.
For now, it would appear that Yamaha’s priorities for India will be focused around its existing motorcycle platforms and the 125cc scooter platform that is growing in popularity. The company has just launched the new FZ-X, which is a scrambler styled bike based on the FZ platform and it also unveiled a Fascino scooter with a mild hybrid function.