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Piaggio officials in India have
confirmed that the uber luxurious Vespa
946 will be launched in India by summer of 2014. The scooter was launched
in Europe in 2013 and later in the US the same year. It is expected that the
scooter will cost around Rs 6 lakh as it would be imported as a CBU from the Piaggio Vespa factory in Pontedera
in Tuscany (central Italy). It will
be the most expensive scooter in the
country and costlier than some of the Harley-Davidson
and Kawasaki bikes, to name a few!
The
Vespa scooters from Piaggio, the latest offering being the Vespa S, are priced
much above that of a conventional scooter sold by any of its rivals in India. The
Vespa 946 will, however, be in a different league completely in terms of
pricing.
The
946 model was conceived as a tribute to the very first Vespa. It is the most
exclusive, luxurious and technologically advanced Vespa in the 67-year history
of the world’s most popular and famous scooter.
With
its steel and – for the first time –
aluminium body, the Vespa 946 is a
unique, evocative object, embodying the greatest value possible in the world of
the scooter and securing Vespa a place in the elite group of luxury brands. The
125 and 150cc engines set the standards for the future, with fuel consumption
kept to a minimum and a sharp reduction in exhaust and noise emissions. The
full LED lights and dual-disc ABS braking system further
enhance the technical features of the Vespa 946, ensuring maximum levels of
active safety.
The
Vespa 946 has ABS braking and ASR
traction control and comes with a 4-stroke 125 cc monocylinder engine. The
American launch of the Vespa 946 was held on the night of October 24, 2013 in
New York at one of Manhattan’s most exclusive addresses, the Bulgari flagship store on 5th Avenue.
It has since been available in the US at a price of US $ 9,946 (Rs 6.10 lakh).
The Vespa 946 2013 edition consisted of a closed lot of 3,600 scooters for
worldwide distribution. The production of the 2013 lot in the Pontedera factory
in Tuscany (central Italy) terminated for the year in November 2013.