Yamaha rolls out its millionth scooter in India

The boom in scooter sales in India is helping companies hit new milestones. India Yamaha Motor (IYM) today produced its one-millionth scooter in India. The milestone machine – a Fascino – was rolled out from its Surajpur plant in Greater Noida.

The company, which manufactures scooters at both its Surajpur and Chennai plants, began producing scooters in September 2012.  

IYM entered the scooter market in India in 2012 with the Cygnus Ray scooter aimed at young female riders. In later years it launched the Cygnus Ray Z targeted at young males, the family-oriented Cygnus Alpha, the premium fashion scooter Fascino and the recently launched Cygnus Ray-ZR. IYM currently produces the Cygnus Ray Z, Cygnus Alpha, Cygnus Ray-ZR and Fascino scooter models in India.

Commenting on the milestone achievement, Hiroaki Fujita, chairman, IYM, said: “This is a significant landmark for Yamaha in India. IYM has had a very successful run in the scooter segment and has been growing at a rapid pace in the past few years. The rollout of the one-millionth scooter in India is a reflection of Yamaha’s increasing footprints in India in the scooter segment and we are confident that will be able to further reinforce our position in the market. Both our plants at Surajpur and Chennai have performed exceedingly well, contributing to the company’s expanding customer base and business,”

Out of the one million scooters produced, around 80,000 scooters have been exported to global markets. The major overseas export countries for Yamaha are Nepal, Mexico, Sri Lanka followed by Cost Rica, Dominican Republic and Ecuador. The Cygnus Ray Z has been the highest selling scooter in the export market. 

This year, IYM’s target is to produce a million vehicles, out of which 460,000 units will be scooters. The two-wheeler market in India has been growing consistently over the past decade. The market reached 16 million units in 2015 and is expected to continue to grow at a decent pace going forward, led by the scooter segment which accounts for around 30 percent of the market. IYM says it has seen rapid growth in sales numbers with H1 2016 sales growth up 45% YoY and scooter sales witnessing a growth of 94% versus the  previous year.