The company is setting up the plant at Vallam Vadagal in Kancheepuram district at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore to be invested in phases. The plant would initially have a total capacity of 4.50 lakh units per annum, which can be scaled up to 18 lakh by 2018.
"Currently, trial runs are happening there. The formal inauguration of the plant will begin next month," India Yamaha Motor Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Roy Kurian told reporters here.
India Yamaha Motor currently has two plants at Faridabad in Haryana and Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh. The Chennai plant would be the third facility for the two-wheeler manufacturer.
On the company's outlook for the year, Kurian said it plans to sell 17 lakh units by 2018 from the present 5.50 lakh.
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"This year, we are expecting to sell around 8 lakh units. Then, we will be increasing to 11-12 lakh and later 17 lakh," he said, responding to a query.
Speaking about the company's launch of 125-cc Saluto, he said it was the third product from the Chennai plant after 110-cc scooterettes Ray and Alpha.
"Currently, we have some 400 dealers. We plan to add 150 more. Some 80 per cent of them will be rural areas," he said.
On the exports front, Kurian said the company was exporting to about 60 countries and would also look at shipping today's launch Saluto to overseas market. The company exports to Latin America, ASEAN and African countries.