With this new EV, Yamaha is targeting the reinforcement of its brand image, not volumes.
Around a year back, Yamaha India Chairman Eishin Chihana informed us that the company was working on adapting it’s Neo’s electric scooter to launch it in India. However, a lot has changed in the last year, especially around regulatory structures and subsidies for electric bikes in India. It appears that Yamaha’s own plans have also changed.
The original plan was to bring an adapted version of the stylish Neo’s scooter to India and at the time Chihana told us that it would offer more than the Euro-spec’s scooter’s 37km of range, but meeting the 100km range figure offered by existing rivals would be difficult.
However, Chihana says that as time passed, Yamaha started to observe that the typical EV customer in India is different from those in Europe who buy EV scooters primarily for green, eco-friendly reasons. “In India, the biggest motivation is low running costs. With petrol prices being so high, people buy mainly for economic value. That is different from our internal combustion customers who buy our products not only for economical value but they buy our bikes like R15 and MT-15 for the aspiration value, style and performance. So we are also stressing on making a product that is exciting, stylish and sporty. That is the value of a Yamaha.”
With this in mind, Chihana tells us that Yamaha decided that in case they make an electric vehicle, it should be ‘something exciting, something outstanding, something sporty’. He went on to say that they won’t chase the volumes, but the scooter should contribute to reinforcing the brand. “So we shifted our direction from the Neo’s. I recognize that even if we rush the product, we will not be introducing anything to our brand. So we will take some time, but we will offer something unique.”
Yamaha has already started working on this project for India and we are looking at a two-three year timeline before it is ready. While some may be disappointed with the longer than expected wait for a Yamaha e-scooter, it is probably a good thing. After all, the Neo’s was a very good looking scooter, but it lacked the performance and range to match the best EVs on sale in India today.
What are your expectations for a Yamaha electric scooter in India? Let us know in the comments section below.