Yamaha lines up Bike Stations for India

Terror strikes and the fear that came with it now a thing of the past, Mumbai has been picked by bike maker Yamaha as its new Bike Station point. Yamaha is unveiling its own showroom in Maharashtra capital and is naming it The Bike Station.

The new Bike Station is expected to Yamaha’s physical presence of dealerships already existing in other major cities of India. The new Mumbai Bike Stations will be located at Bandra and Malad West, said the company.

The bike maker has said that the Bike Stations would have on show more than just an array of Yamaha models on display. Any bike enthusiast who would walk in will get to choose from a range of accessories and the showroom will also be a place to depend for sports biking including jackets, T-shirts and pants.

Yamaha, in the meantime, is also planning to open more Bike Stations at locations in Delhi too, starting with Saket. The Japanese bike major already operates as many as 430 dealerships. It now aims at including another 80 new dealers to its fold, plus concept stores to sell its sports-bikes.

The company has set a target of five lakh bikes for 2009, besides the new models it is lining up for the future. The new models include super-bike ranges of YZF R1 and MT01 in India, while other models that will follow would be the Gladiator and YZF R15. It will also unveil its FZ15 soon.

Yamaha’s FZ16 premium bike, which was launched this October, has already rose to second slot in the 150 cc and above bike category. It said it is already ahead of models such as Hero Honda’s Hunk and CBZ as we3ll as the TVS Apache. The company had launched its cheapest bike 100cc Crux for a price around Rs 33,000.

Meanwhile, the two mega bikes R1 and MT01 cost a whopping Rs 10.5 lakh each. Besides these models, it also sells the Yamaha R15, for around Rs 1 lakh, and the Gladiator SS 125cc besides two variants of the 100cc Yamaha Alba. New plans include a foray into the scooters segment .