India Yamaha Motor embarks on pan-India dealer network expansion programme

Pune, August 20, 2012: Gearing up to make its entry into the Indian scooter market, India Yamaha Motor has announced an aggressive game-plan to expand its sales network across the country, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities which are witnessing strong demand for two-wheelers. Currently, it has over 400 dealers and aims to increase the dealer network to 2,000 by 2018. While the company inaugurated two new dealers -- Varyan Yamaha and Supreme Auto -- in Pune today, four more dealerships are to be opened in Nashik, Mumbai and Pune over the next two weeks.

According to Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO and MD, India Yamaha Motor, “The Yamaha family is looking forward to a stronger dealer and sales network strategy to reach out to more people with our products and services. Maharashtra is a very crucial market for us. In the deluxe segment, which is our mainstay category, Yamaha has an 18 percent market share in Maharashtra, up from 16 percent last year. The opening of these new dealerships in Pune is in line with our focus to strengthen our foothold in key growth markets. The showrooms are fully-equipped with 3S – Sales, Service and Spare Parts – set-up.”

Eyeing a growing market share

The Indian two-wheeler industry has witnessed steady growth in the last few years, attributable to increased disposable income levels among a rapidly expanding middle class. Estimates suggest that the industry will attain a 20 million unit level by 2016, of which Yamaha is targeting a 10 percent market share.

Recently, India Yamaha Motor announced its third manufacturing facility, to come up in Chennai, involving an investment of Rs 1,500 crore over the next five years. The new plant will employ a ‘theoretical-value-based production’ concept that operates on a system of completely synchronised manufacturing of parts and assembly of complete two-wheelers. This investment is in addition to the Rs 750 crore being invested in the existing facilities in Noida and Faridabad for capacity expansion, product development and network expansion.