HISTORY OF YAMAHA INDIA

Yamaha, which made its foray into India 22 years ago in 1985, along with Escorts, the Indian experience has been somewhat mixed. In its 15-year partnership with the Indian tractor maker, Yamaha had made good inroads into motobike buyer’s psyche by offering them sporty, performance driven products. The RX100 was, and continues to be an iconic brand among bikers. However, the company had to discontinue the product after the government banned production and sales of two-stroke motorcycles. Up until the RX100 days, when the government allowed two stroke bikes, Yamaha had a decent market share. As the company moved into four-strokes, it moved beyond the niche segment, a perception which seems to have stayed in the customer’s perception. Like most other motorcycle manufacturers then, Yamaha went the majority way — targeting the commuter segment and offering them products that had low initial cost and good fuel consumption. Here’s Ishikawa view on Yamaha India. ‘We went Hero Honda’s way and so did others. However, the image for Yamaha was different from that of the majority. I believe there was a gap between what Indians wanted from us and, in turn, what we gave them,’ Ishikawa said. The company got caught in the volumes game and developed products that lacked Yamaha’s genes, Ishikawa explains. Yamaha’s performance in the market place dwindled, with market share falling to 3.6 percent in 2005-06 from 8.4 percent in 2000-01, when it parted ways with Escorts to go alone in the Indian market. In its 15-year partnership with Escorts, Yamaha had sold approximately 2.5 million motorcycles.