India Yamaha to add 300 touchpoints during 2014; targets sales of 620,000 units

New Delhi, January 9, 2013: Drawing on a 10-year sales strategy, Yamaha Motor India Sales (YMIS) is going all out to woo the most important member of the family, children in the age group of 5-12 years. As part of this initiative, it has launched a new mascot to promote a Yamaha Children Safety Program to educate and influence both parents and children about vital road safety measures.

The mascot has been designed to strengthen the brand connect with kids and accelerate the company’s growth further. Strong performance in the scooter segment as well as introduction of new variants in the motorcycle market is at the back of this strategic decision and Yamaha is bullish that it will be a significant step forward towards strengthening its position in the market. Around 12 trainers who will impart the training to children have undergone a special training in Yamaha Motor Company Japan with about four being lady trainers.

With demand for two-wheelers in the country reaching 14 million by end-2013, India has become one of the largest two-wheeler markets globally making it necessary for players like Yamaha to increase their share of the total two-wheeler pie over the next 10 years riding on the back of a YoY sales increase, said Masaki Asano, managing director, at the launch of the mascot.

The mascot will connect with children in schools and safety gears will include special helmets for children that will be available at all its dealerships. Earlier, Yamaha had launched its riding and safety training programme for women in 2012 after the launch of the Ray scooter and also commenced the Yamaha Safety Riding Science for young college students.

This year will see the addition of 300 touchpoints with the total number of touchpoints reaching 1,500 by yearend. Roy Kurian, vice president, sales and marketing, said the focus during the year would be on strengthening the company’s presence in Tier 2 towns. At present about 40 percent of Yamaha’s sales come from urban areas or Tier 1 cities and the balance from Tier 2 towns. The FZ, Ray and Ray Z are the popular models in the smaller towns and a recent trend is the growing demand for scooters in Tier 2 towns with the scooter industry reporting a growth of 12-15 percent last year. At present, scooters account for 40 percent of Yamaha’s sales and the company plans to strengthen this portfolio further. The launch of a family scooter on the Ray platform has for long been on the cards though Kurian is non-committal about it. Of the total 460,000 units sold in 2013, scooters contributed 150,000 units and plans are to increase it to 280,000 units of the total targeted sales of 620,000 units in 2014.

SHOBHA MATHUR