Look Out India - Vespa's Coming Too
January 16, 2012 - Filed under: Vespa
Not to be outdone by Yamaha’s announcement last week, Vespa has ended their 13 year absence and announced their re-entry into the Indian scooter market with a pink scooter.
Piaggio / Vespa made the announcement January 6th at the Auto Expo in Delhi, India. The Piaggio group has been selling three wheelers and commercial engines in India for some time, but now they are really getting serious with a new factory in India that opens in March and will have the capacity to churn out 300,000 shiny scooters annually.
With over 2.5 million scooters sold in India in 2011 (out of 13 million total vehicles), scooters represent a huge portion of the vehicle market. Vespa is going after this segment with just one model - an updated LX 125.
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Yamaha Enters Indian Scooter Market
January 08, 2012 - Filed under: Yamaha
Yamaha India Tries the Hot Pink Strategy
Yamaha is finally entering the scooter market in India for 2012 with a few popular models and one all new scooter. Despite selling lots of scooters in near by countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Veitnam, Yamaha has amazingly
Yamaha has been expanding their motorcycle presence in India over the past few years and finally at the recent India Auto Expo they announced a line of scooters. Yamaha is expecting 30% of their Indian sales
The biggest news for the Indian market is the new Ray scooter, which is aimed at women with its hot pink paint job. Specs aren’t out yet, but it’s widely assumed this scooter will be 125cc, which is the most popular size in India.
Buyers looking for something a bit more masculine can take a look at the sporty 125cc Xeon scooters, which has been popular in other parts of Asia in recent years.
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North American History of Aprilia Scooters
December 29, 2011 - Filed under: Aprilia
New Section on History of Aprilia Scooters
A new section on the complete history of Aprilia scooters in the USA and Canada is finally complete after a ton of research over the past months and years.
If you haven’t done so yet, browse the Aprilia overview page or use the menu to learn about every Aprilia from the obscure Rally 50 to the landmark SR50.
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Canada: New Yamaha TMAX & Honda Ruckus Returns for 2012
New Generation of Yamaha TMAX and Honda Canada returns with 2012 Ruckus
This week Yamaha Canada quietly updated their website with the addition of the hugely revised and improved 2012 TMAX maxi-scooter. This new generation of TMAX was announced at Milan last month and the updates have really made this a strong sports-maxi scooter. The styling is significantly overhauled and the best news is the reworked motor
Yamaha only briefly offered the earlier generation of TMAX in Canada for 2009, so its been a few years for Canadian fans. Most likely Yamaha USA will announce the new generation of TMAX soon, but since the previous TMAX was offered there in 2011 they likely need a bit more time to clear out dealer stock. This TMAX addition to Yamaha Canada’s 2012 line likely completes their 2012 scooter stable, which began to take shape way back in mid summer with the new BWs/Zuma 50. The full 2012 scooter line from Yamaha Canada is BWs 50, Majesty and TMAX. Curiously missing for 2012 is the BWs 125 (aka Zuma 125).
2012 news is a bit more sparse from Honda Canada, who quietly updated their website today with the 2012 issue of just the Ruckus. Just like Honda USA announced a month ago, the 2012 Ruckus gets no real changes aside from a spiffy new red/white paint option which joins the always popular black color scheme. The 10th anniversary Ruckus (as it’s called only in Japan) is essentially a white Ruckus with a neat red seat and red decals. Canadian MSRP is unchanged from 2011 at $3069. The Ruckus looks to be the only 2012 scooter offering from Honda Canada, although there are still a few dusty 2010 SH150i in showrooms.
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