News Approved

i was never aware that "yamaha india" is currently a loss making company, but what does "localize" means in title. the news talks about cutting costs through other means.

they better get there plans up and implement it soon or else Yamaha India would be way behind other existing OEMs and the one who are coming up with various products

I feel that the reason for Yamaha's loss stands somewhere in the below points:

1. I know few guys who feel R15 is underpowered. They say so due to lack of low end torque... Somehow this will affect sales, as the low end torque is the most visible in test rides.

2. The rest of the range has nothing "developmental" to show. It seems they stopped their R&D. Damn, even Activa got a 102 to 109cc upgrade which supposedly improved mileage too. So, what are Yamaha's 106cc's doing? Heck, even Hero Honda managed to slightly tune the Stunner to Ignitor (yes, there are some engine changes). And what did Yamaha do all these years? Just change a FZ into SZ which is a 150 anyways?

3. They don't sell viable+fast bikes anymore, which they are known for, and that's why they are losing reputation among 2 strokers & 4 strokers alike.

4. No women oriented products at all, until recently, The Ray. Bajaj can get away with it, but not Yamaha. Things should improve though.


Think about it: If I wanted mileage, I would NOT get a Yamaha. One wants a Yamaha for performance. But today's India Yamaha doesn't excel in performance too... So, what's the point? Crux, Ray, SS125, everything has better alternatives in the market.
Only R15 & FZ maintain something or the other unique/ subjectively better, but that falls only in the eyes of some customers.

This company is bound for failure, unless they can penetrate either the rural market with existing products, OR go totally the other way and get some performance bikes, with additional services & innovation for the owners.

Profit can't be made from products like R15 (or more premium bikes for that matter) in India. They need to come up with more products that have larger market. Commuter segment is the way to go.

Agree, they need to put more RnD on developing new bikes/scooters that appeal masses. Good new for them, bad news for us enthusiasts

Localization will help but hope not at the expense of quality.

So KTM is running at a bigger loss? Is it bad quality? It's a production strategy issue. Nothing else...

There is higher profit margin in premium products. Dont forget, a company will never sell anything that wont be profitable. If yes then we would have seen R6s being sold for 5L on-road
Products like FZ and R15 are more profitable for them as they are already achieving there sales targets. They are incurring losses in YBR, CRUX and there other commuter bikes which are way below sales target.
I wonder what will happen when they start localizing parts. Some of there parts already have bad quality as part of cost cutting. I hope they dont mess it up.

If I remember correctly even Honda is not profitable in India. That is why Rajiv Bajaj keeps harping on his 20% profitability. He knows how the other companies are bleeding themselves to increase market share and he does not want to do the same. I remember reading these words in a recent interview of his in which he spoke about exporting in new markets.

I wonder if the spare parts cost are so high for companies like honda and yamaha and even the bikes are a bit costlier than what other companies offer in the same segment...where do they lose money??

And i support this point...a company will never sell something which is nit profitable....

And if bajaj prices its products at quite a lesser rate and still get profit means the parts used are of inferior quality...but then...personal experience says...they are not at par with the HONDA and YAMAHA but we can say they are at 90% of their quality...and the new launches are at par with them...infact riding a friends shine i felt their parts are inferior...

The Reason for Bajajs profit is not inferior quality parts. R&D costs in India are cheaper so overall cost of manufacturing is less. Also, Parts sharing among there bikes brings down costs by a big margin as they need to spend less in production (less factory space, less wastage etc).
Additionally there Pulsar and Discover brands are well established and are exceeding there sales targets.

If Yamaha can't make profits by importing parts than making them locally does make a lot of sense and this should bring down the costs of spares as well I hope. I will give you an example of the R15 Coneset which costs almost 3K in the showroom which is just insane and the same make imported from Japan costs roughly Rs. 200 only, what is Yamaha doing, its bleeding but along with it its killing its customers as well.

Yamaha is well known for the quality and performance they give. Most people opt for Yamaha for these reasons only or else they could have gone for any other bike in the market.
So if they fail in those two there is no difference between Yamaha and any other brand.
Yamaha India's one of the main income is from selling the parts of RX. Nowadays days they are charging a premium on all RX spares. So they should never be at a loss.
I think their problem lies with in their marketing strategy. They are always late with a product and struggles to get the market. It's better not to talk about their commuter segment bikes.



Sent from xBhp Connect for iOs

Yamaha can try launching a product that has no competition. A product that opens up a whole new segment- a locally manufactured 400 or a 500 cc.
I pesonally feel that an R25 with twin cylinders and locally manufactured is the need of the hour and should sell like hot cakes.

400-500 ccc is premium for indian market.. to generate the profit they need to see mass bikes in big numbers..

a premium bike even with a good price tag wont sell like hot cakes... for "kitna deti hai " is also important...