Japanese two-wheeler giant, Yamaha Motor has announced a production milestone of 10 million units in India. The company achieved the landmark production figure in 34 years of its presence in the country, having begun operations in 1985. The production number is a result of Yamaha’s three manufacturing facilities located in Surajpur, Faridabad, and Chennai that have contributed to the achievement. The 10 millionth vehicle to roll-out at the ceremony was the Yamaha FZS-FI V3.0 at the Chennai plant. The production volumes have not only catered to the domestic demand but for exports as well.
Speaking on the significant milestone, Motofumi Shitara, Chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group of Companies said, “The journey for Yamaha has been quite exciting all these years. We have received a phenomenal response from our customers from across the country. This landmark achievement is a testimony of our growing popularity and demand for our products which are exciting, stylish and sporty. This would not have been possible without the support of our employees, dealer partners, suppliers, and vendors. They have played a key role and have extended their support throughout in line with the company’s business direction to achieve this important milestone. Going forward, we will continue to excite our customers and empower their lives through world-class products and services.”
Yamaha’s popularity has soared in recent years with more mass-market offerings, which helped catapult the production numbers. The occasion also marked another accomplishment of five million units being produced in just seven years between 2012 and 2019. Scooter sales helped the manufacturer during this period, contributing 44 percent to the overall production with the Fascino being a popular seller. Out of the 10 million vehicles produced, about 80 percent units were rolled out from the Surajpur and Faridabad facilities while 20 percent of units were contributed by the new Chennai plant. Motorcycles remained larger contributors to Yamaha Motor India’s overall production. The company manufactured over 77.88 lakh motorcycles overall, while 22.12 lakh scooters were produced.
Yamaha achieved its first such milestone in 1999, 14 years after commencing operations in India when the Surajpur plant hit the one million production run. In 2012, the company’s production increased to five million. The firm also introduced its first scooter – Yamaha Ray – the same year, which further helped build volumes. Yamaha had achieved a production run of one million for its scooters by 2016 with the offerings being manufactured at the then newly built Chennai plant that was begun operations in 2015.
The Chennai factory has played a key role in Yamaha’s production strategy for India, according to the company. The plant has increased its capacity from 4.5 lakh units in 2015 to the current nine lakh units. In the last 5 years, the Chennai factory along with Surajpur & Faridabad factory have together met their production targets from 7.40 lakh units in 2014 to 10.2 lakh units in 2018.
While Yamaha did shift its focus towards commuter motorcycles in the past years, the two-wheeler maker is now focussing back on sporty bikes and has introduced a slew of offerings in the past year including the YZF-R15 V3.0, FZ V3.0 and more recently the Yamaha MT-15. The bike maker is expected to also bring the updated YZF-R3 in India later this year or by early 2020 and possibly its naked sibling – Yamaha MT-03 – sometime in the future. There have also been rumors of the company entering the 125 cc scooter segment, but there has been confirmation on the same from the company.