Yamaha Motor plans premium offerings

Bajaj Auto's race to grab the numero uno position in the premium bike segment is going to be tough as Yamaha Motor India is gearing up for launches in April 2007.

Sources said that Yamaha India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Yamaha Motors, Japan, is planning at least two launches in the 150cc and the 180cc category next year.

There was no confirmation received on the price of the bikes but industry experts believe it to be priced in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 which directly pits it against Bajaj's highly successful range of Pulsar bikes.

The 150cc bike is set to debut in April-May 2007 followed by 180cc. The bikes will be produced at the company's existing plant in Faridabad and Surajpur (UP) as the company already has the infrastructure support in place.

The competition in the premium segment also has the likes of Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India's (HMSI) Unicorn and Hero Honda's Achiever and CBZ.

The latest entrant in the segment came from TVS Motors' Apache in December 2005.

The premium segment has shown the most robust of growth during the past few years as a result of which there has been a number of launches in the segment.

Yamaha over the years was keen to create a brand name for itself before strengthening its position as being one of the most dominant players in the market.

The company currently has four models in the market, which includes Gladiator, Libero, G5 and Crux. The bikes are in the economy and the executive range of 110cc to 125cc.