Yamaha to unveil scooter line up at the upcoming 2012 Indian Auto Expo!

I still remember the time when the once-predominantly scooter makers, Bajaj Auto and Kinetic made a scurry towards motorcycles even as the scooters hit rock bottom in terms of sales and market acceptance. Then, Japanese car and motorcycle giant, Honda, went against the grain even as it launched its first product independent of Hero in the Indian market, the Honda Activa. One ride on the all metal bodied Activa and I was left marveling at the unreal levels of refinement that the Activa’s 102cc four stroke engine delivered. Needless to say, the Activa went on to become a sales blockbuster, a position it maintains to this day.

Yamaha BW125 Scooter used as an illustration

Now, with news trickling in, of Yamaha Motor India planning to make it own foray into the highly promising automatic scooter segment to increase its market share, it is a sense of deja vu, as scooters seem to be making a serious comeback into the Indian market, nearly a decade after which scooters were dumped in favor of motorcycles, for incidentally the same reason, to increase market share. Yamaha Motor India is betting on scooters to increase its current market share in the Indian market and the upcoming 2012 Indian Auto Expo will give us a glimpse of what Yamaha has lined up for the Indian market.

Yamaha Fino 115cc Scooter

Globally, Yamaha does have a range of exiting scooters in varying engine capacities ranging from a diminutive 50cc Zuma to a range topping 500cc T-Max maxi-scooter with everything in between. For the Indian market though, expect a sharply styled 100-125cc scooter pitted right at the volumes segment of the Indian scooter market, read the Honda Activas and Suzuki Access 125s of the world. These scooters could go on sale from 2012 itself and with Italian scooter major Piaggio also set to make a scooter foray with the Vespa LX125 in 2012, expect to see a raft of new offerings in the Indian scooter market.

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