Yamaha is developing a homegrown electric vehicle platform specifically for the Indian market.

As per Reports, Yamaha is developing a locally-manufactured electric platform mainly for the Indian market as they are planning to enter the EV industry by launching their new products on this platform. Yamaha is closely monitoring the competition as rivals like Hero Motorcorp, Honda, and Suzuki have already entered the EV industry. 

Yamaha has a key presence in the two wheeler industry, and are ready to make their impact in the electric two wheeler industry. 

However, Itaru Otani, chairman of Yamaha Motors India has stated that they have not decided and the final decision is yet to be announced, but it is confirmed that Yamaha Motors will be manufacturing electric two wheelers in the future, 

There is no specific timeline, and they have also not cleared, whether the electric platform they are developing will be manufactured locally or globally. 

He said, “The timeline is set, but we cannot reveal at this moment. We will be developing electric vehicles on the platform concept, so that they can integrate with the Indian market, and this is an important factor we are focussing on while making EV products. 

Yamaha has recently invested in the Bengaluru-based EV company River, which sells their e-scooter in the Indian market. Yamaha is also working and implementing various studies on integrating River Indie’s platform for their upcoming models for India. Speaking on this topic, Ottani shared their plans, “River is making considerable progress in the EV Market and we can integrate their platform for designing our EV products, that’s why we are studying various factors for utilising their platform.”

Ottani also expressed his views on the various challenges in the EV industry faced by the brands related to speed, range and reliability. According to him, it is quite tough to meet the customer’s expectations in the EV segment in India. 

Yamaha also sells the Neo e-scooter in various European countries from 2022. They have also tested River Indie in Japan under various circumstances to analyse the performance and reliability of the scooter. 

Currently, Electric Vehicles brands in India are working extensively on lowering the costs of ev scooters so as to provide affordable products to the consumers and reducing the gap between traditional ICE scooters and e-scooters. 

Yamaha Strategy for EV Industry

Yamaha will be taking a different approach, as their strategy will be developing high-performance models in India. According to their strategy, they want to create a brand image of crafting the best performance-oriented vehicles, as it aligns to their image and suits them the best. 

The performance-based e-scooters require advanced and massive batteries, which can also lead to the increase in costs and this is a big hurdle for Yamaha, designing a performance scooter on a budget!! Now this is something which requires precision and effective money management. Let’s see how Yamaha can achieve this!!