Yamaha Plans $500 Motorcycle for India
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Graham Crouch/Bloomberg via Getty Images(SHIZUOKA, Japan) — A $500 motorcycle may be on the horizon for shallow-pocketed two-wheeler enthusiasts in India and across the globe.
According to Yamaha Motor Co., the company is in the planning stages of creating its cheapest motorcycle in India.
Yamaha reportedly hopes the new bike will boost its sales in the country to 2 million vehicles by 2016. It sold 520,000 cycles there in 2011 and expects to sell 640,000 in 2012.
This would be the third Yamaha model available in India, after the Crux, which sells for $635, and the YBR, which goes for $760.
Hiroyuki Suzuki, chief executive of India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd., told The Wall Street Journal that it was time for Yamaha to “address a bigger part of the market.”
“Just about one in every 25 people in India owns a two-wheeler,” he said. “There is a huge scope to attract more buyers with a fuel-efficient product that is priced reasonably.”
The company, which announced a five-year plan in May to build new products and a facility in India, did not set a release date for the motorcycle but said it would be exported.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Yamaha, which now has a market share of 3.5 percent, aims to control 10 percent by 2016.
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