Yamaha plans capacity expansion

Mumbai: Two-wheeler manufacturer Yamaha Motor India will double production capacity to 8 lakh units in two years, said Mr Tsutomu Mabuchi, Managing Director & CEO.

The company is setting up additional facilities at its manufacturing plant in Surajpur, Uttar Pradesh. Yamaha Motor India’s total production capacity at its Surajpur and Faridabad plants is 4 lakh units. The company utilises 60-70 per cent of its capacity.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Yamaha’s company-owned showroom in Mumbai on Monday.

Yamaha sold 1.18 lakh units last year and has already crossed sales of one lakh units this year. “We hope the festival season will give a further push to our sales. We are targeting two lakh unit sales by the end of this year,” said Mr Pankaj Dubey, National Business Head, Sales & Marketing, Yamaha Motor India.

The company, which has a market share of 2.6 per cent, has laid out plans for gaining a market share of 10 per cent by 2010. “Customers look for performance bikes with high-end technology from Yamaha. We are focusing on that segment and we will eventually expand our presence in mass market segments too,” said Mr Dubey.

The company is launching a bike, FZ, in the 150-cc + category on Saturday. This is the third product from Yamaha this year after YZF-R1 and Gladiator. The company is undertaking feasibility studies for introducing its gearless scooters in India. “We are the world’s largest gearless scooter maker. We have a wide range starting from 50 cc to 500 cc. We are studying the market,” said Mr Sanjay Tripathi, Head of Product & Strategy, Yamaha Motor India.

The company’s focus is on expanding dealerships and facilitating consumer finance. By 2009, dealerships will be expanded to 450 from 307.

Yamaha has four company-owned showrooms, including two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai and Pune. The company-owned showroom in Kolkata will open in October. Yamaha’s vehicle financing arm, Bussan Auto Finance, started operations in India in April and is present in 40 cities.