March 18, 2008

Keeping up with new technology and constantly bringing it to the next level, Yamaha Motor India is set to introduce forged piston which enables lighter piston design and excellent power development, in the Indian market. The forged piston is used on the new 150cc YZF-R15, which was unveiled at Auto Expo 2008, as the first on an Indian market model and a feature that reduces the reciprocating mass of the piston by approximately 20%.

Introduced in 1997, Yamaha “controlled forging technology” has been used successfully for over a decade for the mass production of forged aluminum pistons because it utilizes a system of precise control of the piece temperature, mold temperature and the forging force. Yamaha’s controlled forging technology tightly controls the forging conditions, including (1) the initial heating of the work piece, (2) controlling the temperature of the mold so that it keeps the work piece in the ideal 400 to 500 ? range (3) applying just the right amount of pressure to the mold in the forging process and many more factors.

According to Mr. Sanjay Tripathi, Head of Dept- Product Planning & Strategy, “Pistons for car and motorcycle engines are usually cast by pouring molten aluminum alloy into a mold. The other type of piston is the forged piston, with which the alloy is not melted but heated to the point where it can be forged into a mold under pressure. Since the aluminum is not melted in the forging process, it retains a stronger metallurgic quality. This makes possible a thinner, and thus lighter, piston that has less reciprocating mass and also contributes to weight reduction. The result is better revving and lesser engine vibrations”.

“However, there are exacting requirements involved in manufacturing a complex shaped piston and difficulties in maintaining precise temperature in the “forging” process. Due to which such pistons are expensive to produce. But Yamaha’s “controlled forging technology” enables production of the forged pistons at a lower cost”, he adds further.

The forged pistons made with Yamaha “controlled forging technology” have excellent strength characteristics that enable the design of a thinner, lighter piston with smaller reciprocating mass achieve higher rpm and performance as well as providing the greater reliability of the higher strength aluminum. For this reason they are used in YZF-R15 and many Yamaha motorcycles.

March 5, 2008

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shingai, Iwata, Shizuoka Pref.; President: Takashi Kajikawa) (hereafter YMC) and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Shoei Utsuda) (hereafter Mitsui) today announced the agreement that Mitsui will become a joint investor in the new motorcycle manufacturing company India Yamaha Motor Private Limited (IYM) established by YMC in October 17, 2007.

Mitsui’s investment will take the form of an allocation of new stock shares to a third party issued by IYM for the equivalent of 30% of the company’s capitalization. In this way, IYM will increase its total capital to a planned 5.6 billion rupee (approx. 16 billion yen) and utilize the same factory and office facilities used by its predecessor, Yamaha Motor India Private Limited (YMI), to take over YMI’s manufacturing and business operations beginning from April, 2008. Based on this, YMI will promptly begin the closing of its books and corporate liquidation. It will be business as usual for the employees and business partners of YMI.

Through the “Yamaha-Mitsui Strategy Committee” that was established following Mitsui’s acquisition of 3% of YMC stock (announced May 2007), YMC and Mitsui have reviewed the possibilities for Mitsui’s participation in various areas of YMC’s business activities with the aim of strengthening its overseas business and cooperative ventures in other areas of business. The decision announced today is a result of these reviews and repeated discussions with a focus on a “comprehensive joint business venture in India.”

YMC started manufacturing of motorcycles in India by establishing a joint venture company with local partner Escorts in 1996. In 2001, YMI became a 100% owned subsidiary of YMC. Then in 2005, a separate sales company, Yamaha Motor India Sales Private Limited, was established, after which the Yamaha motorcycle business in India was conducted by two companies specializing in manufacturing and marketing respectively.

With the stable growth of the Indian economy as a whole, the Indian motorcycle market has grown to 7.3 million units in 2007, making it the world’s second largest market in terms of demand. The aims for the future are for YMC to aggressively introduce new high value-added models and promote a sales network strategy that includes expanding the establishments of directly-run showroom/dealerships and for Mitsui to use its strengths in logistics and dealer network development to achieve a synergistic effect that will stimulate a growth in sales of Yamaha motorcycles from 120,000 units (domestic only exclusive of exports: 60,000 units) annually in 2007 to 650,000 units (domestic only exclusive of exports: 90,000 units) annually in 2010 while improving the brand’s presence in the fiercely competitive Indian market.

source: indian2wheels.blogspot.com

From the word go, the Suzuki Hayabusa sparked off cults and controversy. Its looks were never what a doting mother would call pretty, and even its performance was always borderline anti-social. Suzuki have been content to let it run amuck in original form except for two major changes along the way – restricting the poor ‘Busa to 296 kph after the top speed related uproar, and the whole bunch of paintjob upgrades along the way. All that has changed with the scary-fast Kawasaki ZZR1400.

Now, Suzuki has announced the 2008 Hayabusa. It does not have an inline-six from the Stratosphere, but instead, it gets a 1340cc inline-four which it shares with the equally pupil-dilating B-King. Rumoured to make 200 bhp (or very close to that figure), the new Hayabusa is expected to top the ZZR1400 in performance. If it can do that without losing its easy-to-use personality, the new Hayabusa will go down as one of the truly great all-time motorcycle upgrades of all time.

So what have Suzuki done? The 1340cc motor is all-new, with a 16-valve DOHC format that brings 11 per cent more performance and greater smoothness. An evolution of the dual throttle valve system also makes an appearance, as does the three-way mode switch from the GSX-R1000 (to select low, intermediate and full power modes for riding in different conditions). The motor also sports titanium valves, new pistons, a super-high 12.5:1 compression ratio, and special cylinder coating. As is considered normal now, a heavier 4-2-1-2 exhaust system is employed with a large catalyser, dual triangular canisters to meet Euro 3 and Tier 2 regs.

The chassis is new as well under the new fairing, which still screams Hayabusa but is subtly different. Forks are new as is the new braced aluminium alloy swingarm with a new shape. Radial brakes are here, as are new wheels and tyres. Suzuki have further lowered the rear subframe for greater pillion comfort and lowered the tank as well so a topspeed-crazy rider can tuck deeper into the fairing. The headlight design is new as well. It also features four analog meters (speedo, tacho, fuel gauge and water temp) and includes a mode indicator, gear position indicator and an adjustable shift light as well.

As you can see, this is a pretty serious upgrade to the venerable Hayabusa. Now we cannot wait for two things, first the direct head- to-heads with the ZZR1400, and the probable launch come March 2008. Yes, Suzuki have gone on record saying the Hayabusa and the GSX-R1000 are being considered for direct import launches in India and the programme could bear fruit as early as March 2008. The Hayabusa is already a popular motorcycle icon in India and we expect the launch price to hover around the Rs 11 lakh mark. Start collecting.

The Hayabusa’s close and fairly frightening looking cousin, the B-King has also gone on sale in some markets worldwide. Featuring the same 1340cc inline-four as the ‘08 Busa (some would say the B-King loaned its motor to the Busa), the B-King, in production form, comes with no tuning for the midrange sort of nonsense. The engine spec is close to the Busa (read above) and even the ride mode selector is there. The B-King does get its own chassis though and first ride reports suggest an unmistakable riding experience that does play havoc with the senses. The B-King is not on Suzuki’s India list. Yet.

Source:BS Motoring.

A look at what’s wrong with the Japanese Companies in India.. Part I: Yamaha India

The above graphic shows how Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki don’t even together account for 10% of the Indian two wheeler market.So what’s wrong for these Japanese companies who once taught Bajaj and TVS the trade of making two wheelers. What’s ailing these Japanese Two wheeler maker..??

Part I: What’s ailing Yamaha India
The mere mention of the brand name “Yamaha” evokes a feeling among bike lovers which is diffcult to describe. The legend of its yesteryear superstars namely the RD350 and the RX100 still manages to overshadow the fact that Yamaha India has made straight losses since 2001.

There are many bikers around in the country who still venerate the Yamaha brand. It wouldn’t be surprising if many of them have never owned a Yamaha Before. Such is the equity of brand Yamaha in India.

Yamaha happens to be the World number two in terms of two wheeler sales after Honda. But in spite of having its presence in India since the mid eighties, Yamaha at present has a market share of just around 3 %.

Needless to say that so far Yamaha has performed below expectations in India.

Lets try to find what has gone wrong for Yamaha India..??

Product LineupLets first look at the Yamaha Products in India.. We have the

100 C.C (economizers)

Crux
Libero G5
Alba (recently launched)
125 C.C

Gladiator (with its “Type J.A” variant)

And….??Nothing else.. at least till now..!!

Ask any Tom Dick and Harry on any Indian street to associate the first word that comes across his mind with “Yamaha”. I can safely bet my money that the answer will invariably be “Speed, Power, Performace”.

After the RX100 and the RD350, by no means can Yamaha make us believe that its 100 cc and 125 cc bikes are the best that it can do in India.

Administrative Problems.

In 2001, Yamaha India bought majority stake in Escorts, its erstwhile JV partner and started on its own as fully owned Japanese subsidiary. But it did not mean that Yamaha India got a fresh start in 2001. Yamaha India had to carry along the Escorts legacy in the form of its workers who previously used to work under Escorts. This is a problem that Yamaha India hasn’t been able to sort out even today.

If you don’t understand how that can be a problem, just try to teach computers to your grandpa and you will understand what I mean. Times had changed since Escorts-Yamaha used to churn out the RX100. Changing times means a different approach to work which requires a change in the mindset of the workers at Yamaha’s plant. And this is one aspect which the new Japanese Bosses at Yamaha India haven’t been able to address so far.

Inefficient and Archaic Dealerships:

Compared to the new and swanky showrooms of its competitors, majority of the dealers and showrooms of Yamaha India looks like it still belongs to the “Licence Raj” days. These dealerships have been in operational since Escorts-Yamaha days. With concepts like “Pro-Biking” showrooms of Bajaj which have been designed to provide a rich experience to the biker, Yamaha India still has a lot to pick up.

Marketing Disaster:

Similar to the how (according to me) the Honda Unicron, has been a marketing failure in India, virtually every product from Yamaha can be a case study for failed Marketing effort.After marketing research the next steps of marketing can be summed up as

Segmentation
Targeting and
Positioning

First of all Marketing Dept. of Yamaha picked up the wrong Segment (100 cc segment) to play in, targeted the wrong customers (actually it beats me to decipher who is Yamaha’s 100 cc target customer) and doesn’t have a strong and clear Positing statement for its products.

Lets try to figure out “What is the positioning statement of Yamaha India’s motorcycles..” From the wheelie popping Gladiator 125 cc ads featuring , John Abraham and the latest ad of the 100 cc Alba here a Girl gets the tattoo of the 100 cc Yamaha Alba on her back, we can say that Yamaha India’s bike are positioned as fast and with sexy designs.

Sexy looks for a 100 cc commuter..?? Wheelies from a 125 cc executive commuter..?? Yeah, that’s what we need. Probably you have the answer now.

What can we expect from the future..??

No matter how miserably Yamaha’s offerings’ have performed in India so far, Indians still have and probably will always have respect for any products from any Japanese Bike maker.

The day Yamaha India launches a proper performance bike, “desi” bike enthusiasts will sit up and take notice. There is no reason to believe that the World’s Second largest Two Wheeler maker can’t pull it off in India. According to me its just the matter of application and letting go of the past.

What is required is to think and start afresh. Let’s see for how long can Yamaha India keep us waiting.Inputs from: Business World