The third innings of the very famous Vespa brand is all set to enter the Indian market. The Vespa had entered the market in 1960s as a joint venture with Bajaj that ended in 1971. After this, vespa tied up with LML for the span of 1983 to 1999. Now Piaggio, Vespa’s parent company is all set to bring Vespa back to India.
The Piaggio board has approved the investment of around 30 million euros (Rs 170 crores) over span of two years to set up a manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 1.5 lakh units. The Italian investor wants to ensure it does not lose out on an opportunity to succeed in the Indian market, which is the second largest in the world.
Piaggio, intends on establishing boutique showrooms for selling the Vespa range of scooters. The first entry from the Piaggio ground would be the Vespa LX 125 scooter by end of 2012. Post this, the company would gradually roll out more scooters.
The company wants to make huge amounts of investments and plans to sell around 1.1 lakh units in the first three years with an estimated revenues of around Rs 400 crores in these three years.
Piaggio Vehicles India Pvt Ltd currently is known for manufacturing the 3 and 4 wheel small LCVs and is the leader in the same segment. The company plant is located in baramati, Maharashtra and it might happen that some of the Vespa’s may come out of this plant in the future.
Vespa LX 125 specifications:
Engine: 124cc Single-cylinder LEADER, 4 stroke with electronic injection
Power: 10 bhp
Max. Torque: 9.6 Nm
Transmission: Automatic Twist and Go
Front Suspension: Single sided trailing link with hydraulic shock absorber
Rear Suspension: Hydraulic shock absorbers with preload adjuster
Front Brake: 200mm disc brake
Rear Brake: 110mm drum brake
Fuel Tank Capacity: 8.5 liters
Dry weight: 114kg
Colours: Rosso Dragon, Nero Lucido, Blu Midnight, Celeste Glamour
