Yamaha enters the scooter market with all-new Ray

September 14, 2012: India Yamaha Motor has rolled out its all-new Ray scooter, in Hyderabad today. With this, the company has entered the rapidly growing Indian scooter segment which has notched nearly 10 percent growth in August while the overall two-wheeler market shrank by 4.50 percent Indian Yamaha Motor is targeting a market share of 20 percent in the scooter segment by 2016.

The Ray, which is aimed at women riders, is claimed to offer best-in-class acceleration, easy handling and maneuverability, and good fuel efficiency. It is powered by an air-cooled four-stroke 113cc engine with a CVT (continuous variable transmission).

At the launch, Hiroyuki Yanagi, president and CEO of Yamaha Motor Co, said: “For the global Yamaha Motor Group, India Yamaha Motor holds great importance as a strategic production and sales base. By 2018, our total production capacity in India will reach 2.8 million units. At that point, India will play an extremely important role in the Yamaha Group, not just in supplying to the Indian domestic market but also in exporting to other markets around the world. We will be working aggressively to transfer our latest technologies to India in the hope of making every contribution we can to the development of India’s two-wheeler industry.”

Speaking on the occasion, Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO and MD, India Yamaha Motor, said: “I am positive that we can get a strong presence soon in the Indian scooter market. Our dealers in India are dedicated to improving their facilities and services for the scooter sales. We plan to start our new factory in Chennai from January 2014. With this production capacity expansion, we are targeting to achieve sales of a million units in 2014. We will expand our total production capacity further in the long term and plan to expand our sales to two million units in 2016 and 2.8 million units in 2018.”

Interestingly, in what is a first in India, the company has set up a new assembly line for scooters which is run entirely by women employees. The company has also developed a riding training programme for female customers and will be implemented across India.

The Ray, which will be available in six colours, is priced at Rs 46,000 (ex-showroom Delhi).