Yamaha Motor plans Gladiator exports

Yamaha Motor India plans to export its newly launched bike, the 125 cc Gladiator, from its manufacturing base in India.

Takahiro Maeda, director and executive vice president at Yamaha Motor India, told Business Standard that exports from the company's Surajpur factory in Uttar Pradesh will commence early next year.

"We will begin by exporting Gladiator to South American countries and Philippines. This was the bike's first launch in the Western India market. The company plans to follow up this launch with launches in Ahmedabad and Mumbai later this month," he said.

Maeda said the company will manufacture 100,000 bikes every year. "The Gladiator will be manufactured on our existing lines in Surajpur and we have not made any additional investment to add to the product portfolio," he clarified, adding that the new motorcycle is indegenised by about 85 per cent.

Gladiator, designed by Yamaha Japan, is also manufactured in other countries, including Brazil and Mexico. The company plans to use India as the base to export motorcycles to India's neighbours including Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Maeda said.

The Gladiator has a 4-stoke, 125 cc, five-speed engine and has been targeted at the young generation in the metros and upcoming urban centres, said Chandra Shekhar Bakshi, GM, sales and marketing.

"Metros and cities such as Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad or Ahmedabad are our target markets," he said.

Bakshi said the company has planned expansion of its dealer network across the country. He said the company will open a dealership in Mumbai next week.

Bakshi said the five-speed transmission of Gladiator is first in the executive segment of motorcycles. The Gladiator churns out a maximum power output of 8 kW and a maximum torque of 10.4 Nm.

"The powerful performance of Gladiator is much above the current executive bikes," Bakshi claimed.

Gladiator will be available in four colours; Deep Red Metallic, Yamaha Black, Silver 3 and Deep Purplish Blue Metallic.

Yamaha to roll out two new models

Yamaha Motor India plans to introduce two new motorcycle models this year, of which one of these is likely to be in the 150 cc category.

At the launch of the company's new 125 cc motorcycle, Gladiator, in Hyderabad, Nagrajan Srikant, regional business head (Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), Yamaha Motor India, said, "We are looking at launching two new models this year."

The company does not have a motorcycle in the 150 cc category and is evaluating options of entering this segment.

Yamaha is eyeing sales of 48,000 vehicles across the board in Andhra Pradesh of which Gladiator will account for 7,000.

The Gladiator's standard model is priced at Rs 41,990 ex-showroom and the Gladiator DX is priced at Rs 44,990.

On a nationwide basis, the company has a market share of around five per cent and is targeting sales of one lakh Gladiator vehicles this year. Across the board, it is eyeing sales of four lakh vehicles this year.

Do you want to discuss stock tips? Do you know a hot one? Join the Stock Market Investments Discussion Group