The domestic two-wheeler industry is witnessing a faster growth in demand for scooters than for motorcycles. Owing to this, many two-wheeler OEMs have lined up scooter launches in the country.

 

In line is Yamaha Motor Company that is looking to introduce a 125cc scooter in the country by mid-2015. This will be Yamaha's debut in the 125cc category, while it is still relatively new in the scooter market with the 133cc Ray, RayZ and Alpha models. This new 125cc scooter (codename 04X) will be produced at Yamaha's upcoming manufacturing facility at Chennai that will start functioning in November this year with the Alpha scooter. The Chennai facility will start producing the 125cc scooter in April 2015. The plant will make 120,000 units of the 04X annually, sources in the know told our sister publication, Autocar Professional.

 

On July 22, Yamaha Motor Company announced the launch of a new 125cc scooter (codename 08X) in Vietnam. To be christened Nozza Grande in Vietnam, the scooter is powered by a new air-cooled, 125cc, fuel-injected engine claimed to deliver good acceleration and fuel economy (54km per litre). Industry sources believe that the new 125cc model slated for India could be based on the same platform or will be a derivative of the Nozza Grande model, especially as both sport a similar code family and are for the Asian market.

 

Earlier this year, Yamaha also rolled out a heavier 125cc scooter Majesty S with an automatic CVT in the UK, but media reports reveal that it will not make its way to India. Currently, key players in the 125cc automatic scooter market in India are the Honda Activa 125 and Suzuki's Access and Swish, the Vespa LX125 and Mahindra Two Wheelers' Rodeo and Flyte. Hero MotoCorp, which had showcased its 125cc scooter at Auto Expo 2014 in February, will also launch the same in the domestic market later this year.

 

Shobha Mathur