Company Description: Yamaha
made its initial foray into India in 1985. In August 2001, Yamaha India became
a 100pc subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, Japan (YMC). In 2008, Mitsui &
Co., Ltd. entered into an agreement with YMC to become a joint-investor in the
motorcycle manufacturing company ‘India Yamaha Motor Private Limited (IYM)’.
IYM operates from its manufacturing units at Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh and
Faridabad in Haryana and produces motorcycles both for domestic and export
markets. With a workforce of more than 2,000 employees, IYM has a countrywide
network of over 400 dealers. At present, its product portfolio includes VMAX
(1,679cc), MT01 (1,670cc), YZF-R1 (998cc), FZ1 (998cc), Fazer (153cc), FZ-S
(153cc), FZ (153cc), SZ, SZ-X & SZ-R (153cc), YZF-R15 Version 2.0 (150cc),
SS125 (123cc), YBR 125 (123cc), YBR 110 (106cc) and Crux (106cc).
For long, Yamaha was almost in
a dormant state. Are things finally looking up for your company? Are you
satisfied with the progress of the company in India?
So far no, we are not satisfied with how we have
progressed. This is because the Indian motorcycle market is very huge. But our
volumes are still low. We are trying to catch up by streamlining our
operations.
There has been a lot of buzz
that India Yamaha is now working on low-cost bikes positioned below the Crux?
Could you please run us through it?
Yes, low-cost motorcycles in the entry-level segment
(100-125cc) are very important for us. This segment is very popular in India.
Basically, we are trying to expand the Crux range of motorcycles to meet the
low-cost segment products. For the future, we are developing more attractive
100cc bikes. And a product below Crux, benchmarked at US$ 500 (27,500 approx.
at current prices), is definitely an option we are looking at.
All eyes are now on the
Ray-concept based scooter that you are planning to launch this year. When will
it be getting launched? And will there be only a single product based on that
concept?
At the Auto Expo 2012, we have also announced that we will
be launching our Ray-based scooter by the second half of this year. It’s very
much on schedule. The scooter will be branded ‘Ray’. As the next step, we will
prepare variants of the same category.
What are the current and new
markets for your product’s shipment to countries abroad? When and where are you planning to export
your scooter?
We are exporting our bikes to a lot of Asian and African
countries and also to Central South American nations. In the future, we will
expand our reach in African markets as it is so huge. And of course, we will try to export our
scooters to certain countries. So far, we are just negotiating with a few
countries.
Yamaha would be setting up a
factory in Tamil Nadu. Have you zeroed
in on Chennai because of its proximity to port?
Yes, that’s right. This location has been chosen because
of its proximity to the Chennai port. The factory will initially roll out small
numbers. Gradually, we will be ramping up our output. In the final phase, we
would have a capacity of around 1.8 million units. Around 3,000 people will be
employed at the plant.
What has been the response to
your superbikes? How many units have you
sold to date? Is there any new superbike in the pipeline? And can we expect
signature showrooms for such luxury motorcycles?
We are able to sell around 150 units per year. And of course, we have lined up a lot of CBUs
(superbikes) for the next few years. We are just working out the models suitable
for India. . Unfortunately, the size of the big bike market in India is low.
But it is witnessing unprecedented demand. And yes, we are studying the
feasibility of having exclusive showroom for luxury motorcycles.
So are you looking at
assembling these high-capacity motorbikes?
At the moment, we are just studying such a possibility.
Definitely, such a move will reduce taxes and we can pass on the benefits to
our customers. But, we are yet to take a call on this.
Will you foray into the
used-bike business?
Until now, Yamaha has never entered the second-hand bike
business. Over a period of time we have to consider entering into pre-owned
bike business.
Could you talk about your
finance arm? Is it providing tailor-made finance solutions to your customers?
Our finance arm---Bussan Auto Finance India Pvt. Ltd. (BAF
India) is a Non Banking Finance Company established with a view to finance
Yamaha two wheeler vehicles across India.
It was set up with a view to enrich the lifestyle of Indian society through
customer-friendly and quality financial services and to become the most
preferred financier for customers and dealers of Yamaha two wheelers across
India setting a benchmark in the industry. Things are progressing well at the
moment.
Do you have any plans to
relaunch ‘Enticer’ cruiser? Or, in fact the Enticer brand?
So far, we are concentrating on 150cc segments with FZ,
SZ, R15 etc. And as I said, a scooter is also coming up. The ‘Enticer’ cruiser
is definitely on our wishlist. Indian customers look for cruisers. So we are
studying and also considering it.
With the rise in petrol prices,
do you think bike sales will get impacted? Or do you see incremental volumes?
What about electric scooters, like in China? Is India not ready for such
scooters?
With the increase in fuel prices, motorcycle and scooter
sales go up. This is because of the mileage factor. A four-wheeler customer
will also buy a two-wheeler to save his fuel bills. There is a lot of scope for
the e-two-wheeler industry to grow. And we are also eyeing that segment in
India.
Last year, you had launched R15
2.0. So how has the response been for this product? Has it exceeded your
expectations? Will you be able to hold
on to the demand?
So far, our R15 sales have been quite good. In fact, there
is a waiting period for it. I’m sure; we will be able to sustain the current
demand.
Do you have any plans to enter
the premium segment by launching 250cc bikes or so? What about a 250cc Fazer?
Unfortunately, I cannot reveal our future strategies. But
what I can say is that a 250cc segment is one of the potential categories. We
can introduce a 250cc Fazer too.
What kind of expansion plans
are you going in for in your current vehiclemaking plant at Surajpur? What is
your sales target for the next fiscal? And what would be your distribution
network by that time?
We
are under process to expand our capacity at the Surajpur factory. Finally, we
can produce 1 million units per annum in two shifts. For this fiscal, we are
targeting 6.5 million units in sales, out of which 4.5 million units would be
accounted for from the domestic market. By that time, 1,300 sales outlets would
be set up from 1,000 currently.
Latest media reports suggest
that Yamaha India is planning to set up an in-house R&D centre? Is that
true? If yes, how much have you earmarked for it?
Although we have not arrived at any amount, yet we have
firmed up our plans for an R&D centre in India. Our aim is to create a
typical Indian product from scratch. Details pertaining to location, size, etc
have not been finalised.
How important is the Indian
market for Yamaha India. How much, in terms of percentage, is it contributing
to your global operations? And by 2020, what should be your marketshare?
I would say India is a very important market for Yamaha
globally. But it is very difficult to specify the contribution from the Indian
market. What I can say is that our market share is only 3pc and by 2020 we are
eyeing a 20pc marketshare.