The iconic Vespa is cheaper by nearly Rs 6,000 but Ravi Chopra reiterates that this price slash will not affect its brand in the market.

“Vespa is the premium scooter in India and will continue to remain so keeping in line with our strategy. I do not foresee any implications with this price cut,” the Chairman and Managing Director of Piaggio India told Business Line .

The company issued a statement on Monday stating that the Vespa would now kick off with an ex-showroom price of Rs 59,990, down from its original tag of Rs 66,600 when it was launched in April last year.

Passes on benefit

Piaggio has said this is a result of better ‘operational productivity in the plant and efficiency through systems’. The new price reflects its intent to share these ‘benefits with potential consumers’.

According to Chopra, plans are under way to have at least 100 dealerships by the end of this calendar, up from the present 65. Over 25,000 scooters have been sold to date. “We believe the Vespa brand has immense potential across India and are confident of generating demand from buyers in interior towns apart from the big cities,” he said.

Gearless scooters

India’s gearless scooter market has been seeing rapid growth over the last few years which has prompted manufacturers to focus on this segment aggressively. While Honda is the clear leader with the Activa, the other players include TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp, Suzuki and Mahindra. The latest entrant is Yamaha which has decided to prioritise scooters for the future. In this milieu, Piaggio has made it clear that it will only focus on the premium end in gearless scooters to be able to carve a niche for itself in this increasingly crowded space. “We spent a good part of last year creating awareness of the Vespa as a fashionable product and will continue with the message that it is an exclusive scooter,” Chopra said.

Fashion icon

Even prior to its launch, Piaggio had decided to position the Vespa in India as a ‘lifestyle, iconic, timeless and ageless product'. The India CMD had made clear in a presentation at Milan that it was important to sustain the brand image through an appropriate positioning and communication strategy focusing on its heritage and unique values.

Chopra had indicated then that Piaggio would need to expand its scooter range while identifying customised products for India. The country’s workforce comprises a growing number of women professionals who prefer gearless scooters to navigate through crowded traffic.

Interestingly, scooters will also be a key component of Piaggio's Asia-Pacific strategy which already includes Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan. Cambodia and the Philippines are due to join the list next year. While Vietnam will be an important hub for this region, Chopra said there was no reason for the Indian operations to play a larger global role given the huge potential in the domestic market.

murali.gopalan@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics