Piaggio Expanding in India
Aprilia will put out a sub-300cc motorcycle for the Indian market.
This news comes from the mouth of Piaggio India managing director and chairman Diego Graffi. In a recent interview he did with Money Control, he said Aprila wants to get into the 250cc to 300cc segment in India in the next three years.
This is a little different from the things he as said in the past, though not completely. He told the world that Aprilia is working on a 300cc to 400cc motorcycle for the Indian market at the Vespa Racing Sixties launch in India in September.
That was the first major move. Now he says 250cc to 300cc, which is a step down in displacement but makes plenty of sense for the Indian market.
“We are … looking at a higher 250-300cc segment. In the next three years, the Indian market will see a motorcycle under the Aprilia brand. We are taking our time because we want to be coherent with our mission and profile, which is to be different and premium and deliver a performance which is not seen in that segment. All this takes time, but the product will come,” Graffi told Money Control.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this. I doubt the little bike will make it outside of India, but the more money Aprilia is making in the country, the more money it will have to build higher displacement bikes for global sale.