Yamaha 2013 Annual Report Download - page 18

Paving New Roads Together
with Indian Society
India’s motorcycle market continues to grow by the year, and in 2012
surpassed China as the world’s largest. Yamaha Motor has positioned India
as a major market along with Indonesia, and we are working to build up our
motorcycle business in India.
For this special feature, we spoke with Hiroyuki Suzuki, who has served
as managing director of India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd. (IYM) for three years,
during which IYM has built up a solid business in India. We asked
Mr. Suzuki about IYM’s path to future growth.
SPECIAL FEATURE
#2
Hiroyuki Suzuki
Managing Director, India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd.
Joined Yamaha Motor in April 1978.
After serving in positions including vice president of PT. Yamaha
Indonesia Motor Manufacturing, Hiroyuki Suzuki was appointed senior
executive officer and director of the Company in March 2010. In addition
to continuing to serve in those positions, Mr. Suzuki has served as
managing director of India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd. since November 2010.
Profile
India’s motorcycle market today
India has recently experienced a cooling of consumer sentiment as a result of high
interest rates and rising prices for goods including gasoline, and the growth of the overall
market is slowing. Nevertheless, in our specialty area of scooters, Yamaha’s annual
shipments grew by 20% in both 2011 and 2012, and scooters’ share of the Indian
motorcycle market rose from 18% in 2011 to 23% in 2012. Scooters’ share of other
Asian markets averages around 30%–40%, and we expect the Indian market to have a
similar composition in the near future.
In addition, women are playing an increasingly public role in Indian society, and we
are developing compact, easy-to-use models to present a new image to win the support
of women and families.
Yamaha Motor’s product strategy
With an emphasis on design and a fresh appeal, Yamaha launched the CYGNUS RAY in
September 2012. With input from female employees included in the development and
evaluation stages, the model is easy to use and thoroughly tailored to women. In
addition, popular Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, IYM’s brand ambassador for
Yamaha scooters in India, presents an image of “cool beauty” that has contributed to
the success of Yamaha’s first scooter in the Indian market. The CYGNUS RAY’s compact
size and ease of use proved popular with men as well as with women. In response, the
CYGNUS RAY Z targeting men was released in May 2013, and shipments have been
showing steady growth.
IYM is also promoting the Yamaha brand in India with high-end products that
convey a sporty, stylish and trendy, racing image. These activities to present Yamaha as a
quality brand appeal directly to the yearning for a “rich, enjoyable life” that is taking root in
the Indian market. Going forward, IYM will strive to increase shipments through sales of
high-end models, and also by strengthening its scooter lineup and introducing models
that target young customers and families. The medium-term management plan sets a
target of capturing 10% of the Indian market by 2017, and IYM will continue to reinforce
the presence of “Yamaha in India.”
Increasing scooter production capacity with an eye on exports
Yamaha is addressing India’s growing demand for scooters with a plan to have a 2.8
million-unit production structure in place by 2018, by increasing capacity at the Surajpur
plant to one million units and building a plant at Chennai with a capacity of 1.8 million
units. IYM’s activities are not limited to the domestic Indian market, either. IYM is
beginning to play an important role as a base for the development of new markets, with
roughly 30% of production on a unit basis going to exports to Africa and neighboring
countries. IYM’s projected business model for Africa is very similar to the Indian business,
Chennai
New IYM factory
(Scheduled to commence
operation in 2014)
New Delhi
IYM (Manufacturing company)
YMIS (Sales company)
YMRI (R&D)
Jaipur
Mumbai
Bhopal
Kolkata
Hyderabad
Bangalore
Motorcycle shipments from Indian factories
2012 2013 2014 (Forecast)
(Thousand units)
Domestic
Exports
826
213
613
651
190
462
488
140
348
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. ⎢ Annual Report 2013 33
32 Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. ⎢ Annual Report 2013