Riding Fazer

Yamaha strategises for accelerated tripling of its share in India's two-wheeler market.

It has been a rather indifferent run for Yamaha in the country's fast growing two-wheeler market. The company is now adopting a multi-pronged strategy to get into the high-growth gear.

What is this strategy? Yamaha Motor India will invest in continuous product development, focus on the brand and lay the required emphasis on marketing activities.

The past few years have been disappointing, admits Atul Gupta, associate vice president, sales and marketing, Yamaha India. The numbers speak for themselves.

Yamaha's market share is almost stagnant at five per cent for the last couple of years. "Now we have clearly formulated our strategy and we aim to consolidate our position in India by tripling our market share by 2010," says an ambitious Gupta.

The company had a start in the fast-lane with its flagship brand RX-100 and tasted phenomenal success with it. Though when the charge of the four-stroke brigade came (which edged out the fuel-guzzling two-stroke engines), Yamaha was slow to react.

Competitors like Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto acted fast and captured the market with models like Splendor and Pulsar. Hero Honda today leads the market with a share of over 40 per cent while Bajaj has 20 per cent of the motorbike pie.

Yamaha is trying to get back in the fast-lane. It launched five models in the last two years aimed at various segments, and has planned more launches. Result: sales touched 2,50,000 in 2005 with Fazer emerging as its number one brand, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the total units sold during the year.

"We will be launching at least one new model every year. These new models will be targeting young urban customers and will provide the true Yamaha riding experience," says Gupta.

Innovative marketing campaigns would be the key to success, according to Gupta. It recently launched a "Life Rocks" campaign targeted at young customers.

In fact, to support the launch of its latest variant ""Gladiator "" the company undertook aggressive promotional activities across the country. Incidentally, this bike is meant to herald its new business strategy in India.

"This approach will help us to achieve our objective of only ONE Yamaha brand, which is different from other brands," says Gupta.

The two wheeler market has seen a growth of about 17 per cent last year, and Gupta feels that it is not only a great opportunity but also a challenge for Yamaha India. "Yamaha is a dominant player globally, and will soon be a force to reckon with in India too."

Wishful think, or reality?