[Vaughan]

It's thought that the R3 could make its way into the Indian market as well. The rationale hinges on the market differences between India and the rest of SE Asia.

The R3 in India will breach the 1 lakh mark, no surprises there, while there is some appetite for bikes above the 1 lakh mark, the segment is still relatively small compared to volume grabbing commuter segment.

However one of the major hurdles Yamaha will run into is the issue of local production. Without local facilities straight importation would result in a price north of 4 lakhs, which comparatively would make the 2.3 lakhs KTM RC390 look like a steal (locally produced). However for Yamaha to set up a local production facility they would need a guarantee that volume would follow.

The popularity of the R15 in India is a promising sign, Indians can be quite brand loyal consumers, so an appropriately priced R3 could provide the proper catalyst for riders to trade their R15's in on the larger R3. Yamaha in fact will need to count on that to ensure any type of success. Twin cylinders are more expensive to product than a single is (CBR300, KTM RC) so even if locally produced the R3 is still likely to come with a price tag in the 2.5-3.2 lakhs territory.

Yamaha must currently weigh the potential scenarios

- North of 4 lakh, R3 320cc twin, produced in Indonesia and shipped in CKD

- 2-2.3 lakh, 300cc single, locally made, but this now asks for Yamaha to produce a third engine design specifically for the Indian market

- 2-3 lakh, 250cc twin, locally made, which would not in fact be R3 but R25

- 3+ lakh , 320cc twin, locally made, which would require the same infrastructure investments as above but would need to be weighed vs the 250cc option in terms of cost vs sales.

Either way India will get ONE of them...

 

[YR3]

It would indeed be good for India to get the R3.
Over the past while i have noticed a growing about of bikes within the range of the R3 making it's way their, Yamaha might as well be part of that.

 

[slipstream]

Suzuki sells the Inazuma 250 here for roughly Rs 260000 OTR, which is also a parallel twin, albeit with much lesser power output. So I don't see a reason why Yamaha cannot do it, even if its Rs 280000 OTR, a lot of fans will queue up for the Yamaha over the KTM, thanks to the reliability and build quality.
If Yamaha consider other options like 300 single, the KTM will always be the 'more bang for buck' machine, coz of its killer price tag.
I feel Yamaha are better off bringing the R3 over R25, since mfg cost of R3 is going to be very similar to R25 in India (the exact same reason why KTM brought the Duke 200 instead of 125). The R3 will be a direct rival to RC 390 and Ninja 300 while the R25 will only be stranded in between the 390 and the upcoming CBR 300.
Lastly importing the R3 is one of the worst decisions Yamaha can make now. When Kawasaki did it, the Ninja 250/ 300 were the only bikes in that displacement/ power range, but it wont make any sense for Yamaha now with KTM presence.
The pricing of the RC390 has really shook the industry, even Triumph have put on hold the 250 plans.

 

[OneTwo]

rc390 is also built domestically though...

 

[YR3]

and of course when it comes to buying KTM... dealer support is an issue, not as great as Yamaha and other brands but anyone who really wants a KTM, will get it.

 

[Yamahahaha]

Would people buy a bike at 300cc or is the country more interested in lower displacements? It seems to me that people might be looking for cheaper and less powerful bikes unless they are looking for something really high end.

 

[slipstream]

Would people buy a bike at 300cc or is the country more interested in lower displacements? It seems to me that people might be looking for cheaper and less powerful bikes unless they are looking for something really high end.

If priced appropriately there will be hordes of ppl ready to jump ship to the Yammie ( incl me!! ). Commuters sell the largest, no surprises there, but the enthusiast community is growing very fast. KTMs sell coz there is no other alternative offering the same power/ price combo. Thanks to Bajaj they have managed to keep costs very affordable.
As I said earlier in my post, the pricing of the Duke/ RC 390 has kinda shook the other mfrs. It will be very difficult for others to keep costs low without localizing production like KTM. The Kwak Ninja 300 is a superb all round machine, but costs 50% more than RC 390. Since the RC sales started, heard Ninja sales dropped to double digits a month.
Hope the Yamaha R25/ R3 whichever comes doesn't go the Ninja way, and Yamaha take effort to keep prices competitive. Yamaha revolutionized the market with the R15 7 years back, but has been mum since then. Time to shake things up!

 

[Yamahahaha]

So I guess it all depends on if Yamaha has its production based in India or not. That is the thing that will have the most impact on the price there.

 

[Saleem Jamsheda]

Yamaha r3 CKD and localise what you can localise.

IF WE TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF YAMAHA IN INDIA THEN WE CAN TALK ABOUT OUR FATHERS WHO LOVE THE RD350 twin cylnder(RAJDOOT). i still cant believe people are searching for those bikes . tey are less in numbers and is a marvel . Yamaha opened up the full faring commutter market for india with r15, that is there and so does FZ 16 to churn out sales , but to churn out power let them import the r3 CKD and not CBU .Beacuse this will become an iconic product . dont compare the single cylinder KTM crap over and again . honda cbr 500 is a twin and cbr650 is a inline four or three cyl. those are diffirent specs , ducati panigale 1198,whilst twin churns out power equal to NINJA H2 or the new R1. so cubic capacity and bhp, no of cyls cannot be compared. Yamaha should open up in twin cyl, since they are alreading importing the r1 for us. case closed. never compare sale units also. Indian population is the largest. a little marketing and the numbers would change for yamaha. in fact the more product line up the better sales . like maruti in small cars . if a customer comes , you can send him back with something or the other. im a business man . i will not delay my product to my customers.

If priced appropriately there will be hordes of ppl ready to jump ship to the Yammie ( incl me!! ). Commuters sell the largest, no surprises there, but the enthusiast community is growing very fast. KTMs sell coz there is no other alternative offering the same power/ price combo. Thanks to Bajaj they have managed to keep costs very affordable.
As I said earlier in my post, the pricing of the Duke/ RC 390 has kinda shook the other mfrs. It will be very difficult for others to keep costs low without localizing production like KTM. The Kwak Ninja 300 is a superb all round machine, but costs 50% more than RC 390. Since the RC sales started, heard Ninja sales dropped to double digits a month.
Hope the Yamaha R25/ R3 whichever comes doesn't go the Ninja way, and Yamaha take effort to keep prices competitive. Yamaha revolutionized the market with the R15 7 years back, but has been mum since then. Time to shake things up!