Yamaha may launch two bikes this year

Yamaha Motor India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Company Ltd of Japan, may launch two motorcycle models in the current fiscal.

Yamaha, which has launched a 125-cc, four-stroke Fazer last month, sold around 7,000 units in the first month. The company targets to sell 80,000 Fazers in the first 12 months.

It also hopes to sell around three lakh motorcycles in the next 12 months, with one lakh each sales of Libero and Crux models.

"While we plan to launch a Fazer variant during the year, Yamaha may also introduce at least two new motorcycles in the Indian market to expand its product offering and woo the growing young buyers. But there is no plan to introduce Fazer-250 which is an upgraded model of Fazer-125 and sold overseas. We are interested in continuing with Enticer which is being sold 3,000-4,000 units per month," said Mukesh Bhargava, deputy general manager, Yamaha Motor.

He declined to divulge details about the new models.

Bhargava said the company may shortly launch a Fazer-125 cc model with a discbrake system. At present the model has a drumbrake system. However, the Fazer with discbrake will be costlier by Rs 3,000-4,000 and it will also come up with a self-start feature.

Bhargava said, "With the rise in demand for Yamaha bikes in the export markets, which we cater from our manufacturing facility at Surajpur, we hope for growth in exports, especially from South Africa and Nepal during the year."

At present, Yamaha sells Crux and Libero models in South Africa, while in Nepal it mainly sells Yamaha RX-100. The is model has been withdrawn from the Indian market because of emission norms.

"We are selling Crux and Libero motorcycles in Nigeria and Tanzania. The Cylone market is also growing for us with the introduction of the Libero variant. In Nepal, during the last fiscal year, we sold 800 RX 100 units, while this year we will introduce Libero and Crux. We may cross the 5,000 sals mark in all the countries we are present," Bhargava said.

He was recently in Ahmedabad to mark the occassion of the sale of 1,000 units of Fazer.

Fazer comes with a unique carburetor equipped with the Yamaha throttle position sensor.

This carburetor utilises information from the throttle by means of a three-dimensional digital mapping which optimises the functioning of the carburetor while also ensuring outstanding combustion efficiency and thus, maximising fuel economy and good pick-up, he added.