Piaggio Registers 120 Per Cent Growth In Scooters

Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, which markets and sells Vespa and Aprilia scooters in India, registered a growth of over 120 per cent in the April to August period of 2017. In all, Piaggio sold 25,605 two-wheelers in the first two quarters of the current financial year, registering a growth of 120.94 per cent over the same period a year ago. According to data published by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), in August 2017 alone, Piaggio sold 6,767 two-wheelers, a growth of a massive 189 per cent over the same month a year ago.

Vespa introduced the Elegante 150 Special Edition earlier this year

Also Read: Piaggio Posts Over 63 Per Cent Growth In FY2017

Piaggio has been on a roll over the past year or so, growing steadily in the 125 cc and 150 cc scooter segments. Piaggio sells the Vespa brand in both 125 cc and 150 cc variants, and also markets the Aprilia SR150 scooter. The Aprilia SR150 is powered by a 154.4 cc single-cylinder, air-cooled engine, which makes 10.4 bhp power and 11.5 Nm of peak torque. The 150 cc Vespa models also share the same engine, and so far, no other two-wheeler manufacturer has a 150 cc product in the scooter space, and that seems to have worked wonders for Piaggio's India strategy.

Earlier this year, Piaggio introduced the Aprilia SR150 Race variant

150 cc scooter sales on the rise

Piaggio's 125 cc scooters under the Vespa name sold 9,742 units in the April to August, 2017 period, registering a growth of over 21 per cent. But it's the 150 cc scooters which seem to have captured consumer interest, raking up both volumes and maximum growth. A year ago, Piaggio sold just 3,555 scooters in the 150 cc class. Now, Piaggio sold 15,863 scooters in the 150 cc class in the same period, posting a whopping 346 per cent growth in the segment, which has no other contenders.

Clearly, there's a growing interest in premium scooters, apart from the high volumes 100-110 cc automatic scooters which command one of the highest two-wheeler sales volumes in India. In terms of pure volumes though, Piaggio is nowhere near market leaders Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) and Hero MotoCorp. While the scooter segment continues to grow in volumes, overtaking even the high volumes commuter motorcycle sales volumes, the top three players in the scooter space, including TVS Motor Company, still don't have any products in the 150 cc category.