Yamaha's low cost bike codenamed INDRA

Earlier this year, we had reported that Yamaha is working on a low cost motorcycle for the Indian market. The company aims to sell the bike, which has been codenamed INDRA (Innovative and New Development based on Responsible Analysis), at a target price of Rs. 30,000.

The bike will be developed jointly by teams from India and Japan. Normally, Yamaha distributes drawings of its bikes to vendors here who, in turn, make the parts. However, for project INDRA, the Indian vendor community is working with the company's R&D teams on the motorcycle - a strategy which the company believes will be effective in keeping the prices of parts at the lowest.

The bike will be rolled out from Yamaha's upcoming Chennai plant. The facility is spread over 180-acres out of which, 60 acres will be allotted to 8 Japanese vendors including KYB (Kayaba) for suspension, Sakura for job systems and other suppliers for casting and alloy wheels. There will be dedicated vendors for Injection moulding and painting. This will help keep costs down as the plant will not have to source parts from various locations.

The motorcycle is unlikely to be launched in India before 2016-17 and a sizeable number of the bikes produced could be exported to Africa, where low cost bikes are in demand. Other markets such as Brazil and Indonesia could also be on the cards.

Source: Business Line