MUMBAI: Italian auto major Piaggio expects a recovery in demand from the second half of the current year following the formation of a stable government at the Centre.
The auto maker also plans to renew its scooter
products with new contents in the next 2-3 years, besides
launching an India-specific scooter next year, Piaggio
Vehicles India managing director and chief executive officer
Diego Graffi said.
Piaggio Vehicles India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Italy’s Piaggio Group. Besides selling iconic Vespa and
Aprilia brands of scooters,it is a leading player in the
diesel three-wheeler segment as well in the domestic market.
Piaggio’s vehicle range includes scooters, mopeds and
motorcycles starting from 50 cc to 1,200 cc under the Piaggio,
Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi and Scarabeo brands.
The 3 and 4-wheeled light transportation vehicles are
marketed under the Ape, Porter and Quargo brands.
It has a manufacturing plant at Baramati in
Maharashtra, where it produces the two scooter brands.
“Our expectation is that now we have more clarity over
all, there will be a recovery of demand in the second half of
the year,” Graffi said.
Piaggio is currently present in the 125-150 cc premium
scooter segment, in which it commands 9-10 per cent market
share.
He said both the businesses- passenger and commercial
vehicles- of the company have so far seen a growth, which is
either at par or at times better than the industry.
According to him, the growth this year has been better
than last year.
He said factors such new safety norms, which increased
the cost and also hike in duty on completely built units
(CBUs) have also “contributed” to the situation, impacting the
growth of the industry.
It has become mandatory to have CBS (combined braking
system) or ABS (anti-locking braking system) in all bikes and
scooters from April this year. This has resulted an increase
of around Rs 5,000 in scooter and Rs 25,000 in motorcycle
prices.
“Our product and network base is very strong and
capable to compensate or any other external factor that can
negatively affect the demand,” he said.
Scooter sales in India declined 0.27 per cent to
67,01,469 units in the previous fiscal as against 67,19,909
units FY18, as per the Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM).
Piaggio Vehicles also posted a growth of 14 per cent
in its scooter sales in the domestic market last fiscal at
77,775 units as against the 68,169 units in the year ended
March 2018.
“What we have seen is that queries are there, but
there is lot of postponement of purchases from final customer,
something we have not seen before,” he added.
He said Piaggio is renewing its current product
portfolio.
“We will have a completely new scooter brand coming in
2020. It will be fully customised and designed for India
customers with lot of contents,” he said.
Graffi, however, ruled out Piaggio’s entry into the
mass segment saying, “We are always perceived as the ones, who
are into premium play. We don’t intend to get into the
commuter segment. We look only at scooter market, about 125
cc, which is one million in size currently.”
“In this segment, we have around 9-10 per cent market
share. We are not playing in all segments. In any case, market
share has never been our focus. We only focus on network and
its expansion and brand reputation. This is our target,” he
added.
“Network has doubled in the past one-and-a-half years,
which is helping us grow. What we are also seeing from the
network perspective is a lot of new customers coming in from
non-metro markets,” he said.
According to Ashish Yakhmi, head of 2-Wheeler
business, Piaggio Vehicles, the company has doubled network in
last one-and-a- half year to about 250 that has also helped in
growth and it plans to add 100 more in the next 18 months.
“We are trying to continue with the growth in the
right areas. It will be also one of the key factors in the
next 12-18 months”, he said.
“What we are also seeing from the network perspective,
is a lot of new customers coming in from non-metro markets,”
Yakhmi added.
Graffi said, “We arealso thinking of motorbikes in
the mid-range of 150-250 cc in the Indian market. We have
product in our portfolio outside Indiathat could be suitable,
but again we want to introduce the right product with a right
price position, and with the right performances.”
He said the company does not want to follow with
others as it wants to to have only its “distinguished”
products in the bike segment.
Aprilia is a brand already established here in India
and not having a motorcycle for motosport is contradiction, he
said.
“This is why we are taking our own time,” Graffi
added. (AGENCIES)
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