Yamaha YZF-R3 sees good opening sales in India

India Yamaha Motor, which is riding high in terms of sales, and for the first time in its history, has sold more than 60,000 two-wheelers in a single month (August 2015: 61,440 units), has received a good initial response from the market for its entry level midsized sportsbike, the YZF-R3.

The liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder, 321cc, 41bhp YZF-R3, which is imported into India in the form of completely knocked down (CKD) kits and locally assembled at the company’s Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) facility, has recorded total despatches of 140 units during August 2015.

Yamaha is currently assembling close to 10 units of the YZF-R3 per day, confirms the company.

The model was launched on August 11, 2015 at a starting price of Rs 325,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

It can be recalled that Autocar Professional, in its report on August 3, had revealed that the company had started accepting bookings of the YZF-R3 model at select dealerships. The despatches, as company officials had pointed out during the product launch last month, began on August 20.

According to the company, it has shortlisted close to 100 select dealerships and sales outlets across the country from where it is selling the YZF-R3 currently. It is to be noted here that company has close to 1,200 customer touch points, which includes 400 dealerships across India, says its website.

Competitive market
Yamaha’s latest entrant in the domestic market takes on Kawasaki’s locally-assembled, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin, 39bhp, 296cc Ninja 300 and KTM’s liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, 43bhp, 373.2cc RC390. The Kawasaki Ninja 300 and the KTM RC390 come with the on-road (Delhi) price tags of close to Rs 386,000 and Rs 227,000 respectively.

Bajaj Auto clearly has an upper hand in terms of competitive pricing as two major factors contribute to this. Firstly, while the KTM RC390 is powered by a single-cylinder engine, the model, secondly, is completely manufactured at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan plant near Pune. While two-wheeler industry experts are of the view that single-cylinder engine configurations are better suited for the Indian market, others believe that the entry of two-, three- and even four-cylinder performance motorcycles is the result of a gradually maturing market.

However, responding to Autocar Professional on the market performance of the model in its first month, Roy Kurian, vice-president, sales and marketing, Yamaha Motor India, said: “We always put forward an irrefutable commitment to our customers. The YZF-R3 is bound to do well in the market as it is from the R family and has the same DNA. When it comes to the sports segment we always hold an advantage considering our legacy with racing. The initial response (to this model) is overwhelming.”

Positioned at the entry-level racing enthusiasts, the Yamaha YZF-R3 also offers great flexibility on city roads for navigating through cross-town traffic. The company website also mentions about Yamaha putting in multiple weight reduction efforts to keep the YZF-R3 light in weight in the range of 168-170kg (wet weight) such as the newly designed steel frame as the lightweight chassis, forged pistons among other features.

During the official launch of the YZF-R3, company officials had revealed that they expect to sell close to 2,000 units of this model in the first year of its introduction in the India market. The company management had also clarified that it may soon take a call of rolling out an ABS-equipped variant of the YZF-R3 in the coming months.

To understand the market size of the entry level sportsbikes in India, it can be seen that in the twin-cylinder entry level performance motorcycle format, Kawasaki has sold close to 380 units of its Ninja 300 model during April – August, 2015.

In the single-cylinder format, however, due to local manufacturing and lower price positioning, Bajaj Auto has sold roughly 2,811 units of the RC390 and Duke 390 put together during the same period. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has sold 1,643 units of its single-cylinder 250cc sportsbike, the CBR250R during the same period.

Industry analysts say that entry of new performance motorcycle models will only expand the niche market in the coming times.