India Yamaha Motor ends 2012 with 6% sales growth

New Delhi, January 2, 2013: India Yamaha Motor has ended calendar year 2012 with an annual growth rate of 6 percent. Following its entry into the scooter market with the 113cc Ray, a varied motorcycle line-up and a range of customer-centric activities, the two-wheeler manufacturer clocked sales of 487,290 units in 2012 as compared to 460,815 in 2011.

In the domestic market, sales grew 1.4 percent, with 348,406 units sold in 2012 compared to 343,466 units sold in 2011. Export sales totaled 138,884 units in 2012 compared to 117,349 units in 2011, a growth of 21 percent.

By 2016, India Yamaha Motor is targeting an overall market share of 10 percent with 15 percent share of its revenues coming from the scooter segment. Commenting on the results, Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO and managing director, India Yamaha Motor (pictured), said: “The year 2012 has indeed been an exceptional year for us as we were able to launch our first scooter Ray. Our core target audience for the Ray -- the young urban Indian woman -- has responded positively. With the launch of our scooter model and limited edition FZ bikes, we were able to maintain consistency in our overall growth. Our untiring efforts to rev up sales backed by innovative marketing strategies and an impeccable product portfolio across segments have reaped encouraging results. We’ve also expanded our dealer network nationally and improved customer care quality for female customers by appointing more female staff at customer contact points and introducing female customer care programmes.

Last year, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu government for the construction and operation of our new factory in Chennai. Our efforts towards enhancing our customer relationship through various initiatives like the Yamaha Safe Riding Science, the R15 One Make Race Championships and the Sales & Service camps have also been very rewarding. We are buoyant about the future.”

The company is also planning to introduce the Yamaha Female Riding Training programme very soon. Currently, India Yamaha Motor has more than 400 dealers across India and plans to expand its reach to more cities, increasing its dealer network to 2000 by 2014. Recognising the growing demand for two-wheelers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, Yamaha has embarked on building a strong dealership network in these cities. It is also working on its secondary network to be realigned to reach more customers in rural areas.