India to be second largest market for Yamaha next year: Roy Kurian
With its third plant in India likely to commence production next month with an initial capacity of 4,50,000 two-wheelers, Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha is aiming to expand its share in the Indian market
With its third plant in India likely to commence production next month with an initial capacity of 4,50,000 two-wheelers, Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha is aiming to expand its share in the Indian market and boost exports. ETAutocaught up with Roy Kurian, vice president of sales and marketing at Yamaha Motor India, to understand the company's plans. Edited excerpts:Yamaha has been planning to expand equally in the premium segment as well as the lower segment of two-wheelers. We have seen action in the first, but yet to see any major development in the second.We have seen quite good response in the (premium) segment and that's the reason we have launched YZF R3 in the 325cc segment. We had showcase R25 in the last AutoExpo but we did not launch that and instead brought this one as we thought that would not have given the that kind of appeal to the customers because of lower power. As far as lower segment of products is concerned, we are following the same pattern.We have been hearing of Yamaha's plan to bring affordable bikes to India. How is that plan shaping up?The work is on and we are looking at making affordable bikes for customers who is looking to commute from X to Y location. The priority of this product is going to be cost and fuel efficiency. Our research and development team is working on it.How far are we from the bike running on the road?It's a very big project. I am really not able to answer this question, but certainly the company is working on it.For Yamaha, what has been driving the growth in terms of product segment and how does the future look like?If you look at 2014, the scooter segment has already contributed about 27-29 percent of the total domestic (two-wheeler) sales and we are seeing that growing. Even this year, for the first half from January-June, motorcycle is in red but scooter is positive and going by this, this year we should be somewhere around 29-30 percent of the total sales as far as the scooter segment is concerned.People are shifting from motorcycles to scooters, especially in urban area ... So, going by that, I think we are bang on as far as the strategy is concerned. Yes, we are not a very significant player as far as the scooter segment is concerned, but I think we have made our presence felt in the last two or three years.
I would like to make it clear that we have the first priority on the domestic market, but that doesnt mean we are ignoring exports. We would look at a market share of 10 percent by2018
Can we see Yamaha's product on the top 10 selling two-wheeler list in India?We are actually not a big player right now. It will be a tall claim to make right now. I think we need some more time. But the kind of acceptance for Yamaha brand we see, we expect to be a significant play in time to come.When is your new Chennai plant going to be operational?Well, the trial production at the Chennai plant has already started and I think next month we will officially inaugurate the plant. The plant (capacity) will be expanded to 1.8 million units by 2018.Your production capacity will increase to over 2 million. Where will these be consumed - domestically or export markets?I would like to make it clear that we have the first priority on the domestic market, but that doesn't mean we are ignoring exports. We would look at a market share of 10 percent by 2018 or one or two years here and there. We expect our exports to grow to 2.5 lakh units this year from 1.5 lakh the previous year. For the domestic market, we did about 5.6 lakh units last year and we expect this year to touch about 6.3 lakh units, while our long-term target is to reach 1 million mark, which hopefully will be happening in 2017.
sorce: Forbes
