‘We’ve created a premium space in the scooter segment.’

Piaggio Vehicles’ Ravi Chopra on the Vespa’s premium positioning strategy.

How do you plan to build your Vespa scooter brand further?
We launched the Vespa two years ago. We were able to create a premium space in the scooter segment, which did not exist before. Having done that, we are proud to own that space because we know nobody else can enter that space. Therefore, we are adding more products, variants and extensions which can change in the Vespa range so that, ultimately, we bring the Vespa world to India.

The scooter market seems to be immune to the overall slowdown in the two-wheeler market. Do you expect the good run to continue?
In the two-wheeler market, scooters have had a sustained 15 percent CAGR. All that is fine but we are not looking at volumes as a mass-market product. We are looking at volumes that will support our premium positioning strategy. So there is enough to penetrate. We want to look at the bigger picture. What does the customer need? He needs brand value, something that gives him that value addition. That is what we are providing with the Vespa and a premium product. If we were not providing that, we would be like any other mass- market product.

Like the Vespa scooters, do you plan to assemble the Aprilia, Moto Guzzi bikes too?
At present, we are using the CBU route. Tomorrow, we can have an SKD route. But CBU route or SKD route, the price is not going to change. Price is value for money. We will leverage the custom duty structure, so there will be cost efficiency because if we import an SKD, the duty is 30 percent, if you import a CBU, it is 60-75 percent. But that does not mean the pricing structure will change. We want the buyer to make a clear choice for the product and not buy any other, even if offered 10 choices.

SUMANTRA B BAROOAH