Reference Auto

Although scooters have lost their sheen in India, Piaggio has decided to bring back the Vespa brand with the LX 125 scooter, which is slated for launch early next year, and the company's superbike, the Aprilia RSV4, will roll out even sooner.

This is Piaggio’s third stint in India. During its first entry, Piaggio licensed production of Vespa scooters to Bajaj in the 1960s.

In 1971, Piaggio’s licence was not renewed by the Central government, prompting the Italian company to tie up with Lohia Machinery Limited (LML) Motors in 1983.

But the partnership ended in 1999 after prolonged disputes between the two companies.

Currently, LML is engaged in making light commercial vehicles, one of them being the Ape. The Vespa was a highly popular brand worldwide and had registered sales of 17 million till 2010.

Piagio is still bullish on the Indian market, and now, it plans to set up a new facility in Baramati, near Pune soon and will pump in euro 30 million to manufacture scooters.

Piaggio Vehicles chairman and managing director Ravi Chopra said, “Our new Vespa LX 125 will be launched in India by early 2012 and be made at our new facility in Baramati.

The scooter unit will have a capacity to manufacture 1.5 lakh units per annum.

The nascent but burgeoning market for high-end motorcycles has also prompted the Italian two-wheeler giant to launch its Aprilia RSV4 superbike soon.

But the company refused to divulge plans as to when it would be launched. Piaggio also remained tightlipped about the price of the Vespa or the RSV4.

Piaggio has seven brands of scooters, motorcycles and small commercial vehicles under its stable and the premium Aprilia bike range will come in as imports. Car experts feel that initially these motorcycles could command prices ranging from Rs 13 lakh to Rs 18 lakh.

The Aprilia RSV4 has a 999.6cc 65 degree V4 engine that pumps 180 bhp. The bike comes with a string of hi-tech systems such as ride-by-wire multi-map system, a sophisticated electronic injection system with two injectors and adjustable geometry chassis.

Piaggio India, which has around 760 sales points, is also infusing euro 60 million to manufacture petrol and diesel engines in Baramati. “We hope to make 50,000 diesel engines and about a lakh petrol engines in a year,” Chopra said.

Piaggio Vehicles is holding parleys with General Motors for supplying 1.2 litre turbo jet diesel engines for the car maker’s upcoming light commercial vehicles (LCVs).

The one-litre diesel engines are being used by the Italian firm’s small LCV – the Ape mini. The petrol engines will be utilised for the company’s two-wheelers.

Superbike sales are slated to grow 50 per cent in the near term and could actually rev up to around 100 per cent in the medium to long term.

Piaggio will have to undertake an ad blitz to see that its superbikes find place in the Indian market as the company is not a known motorcycle brand in India, and for its scooter, the Italian major could see an interest for the Vespa even though the going may be tough as the scooter market in India has shrunk substantially.