Piaggio launches Vespa at Rs 66,661; to double scooter capacity in India

The iconic scooter Vespa has finally arrived. In its third time coming, Vespa is launched under its original Italian owner Piaggio in India.

The best selling scooter in Europe the Vespa LX 125 is launched at price of Rs 66,661 ex-showroom Maharashtra positioned at the premium end of the market. Vespa is positioned at a 15-25% price premium over scooters like Honda Activa, SuzukiAccess and Mahindra Duro.

Ravi Chopra, CMD, Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited said, "We could not have launched Vespa at better time than this. The scooter market is fastest growing segment in the country and the Indian consumers has evolved today aspiring to own more lifestyle products and Vespa fits in perfectly."

So bullish is the Italian major that it sees India outselling Vespa's global sales across various markets in the next two to three years with over 3,00,000 units sold annually.

Piaggio sold 1,50,000 Vespa scooters in 2011 globally.

The 2.5 million scooter market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 20% over the coming years.

And the company is gearing up with a capacity of 1,50,000 units in an all new plant in Baramati which was set up with an investment of 32 million Euros.

Thanks to the enthusiastic initial buzz around the brand, Piaggio has already started working on doubling the capacity to 3,00,000 units by mid of 2013. The capacity addition will entail an additional investment of 20 million Euros.

Custom made for India, the LX 125 is powered by an all new engine specially developed for the Indian market delivering fuel efficiency of 60 kilometers per litre which is 100% more fuel efficient than the existing Vespa engine in Europe

Apart from India, the new generation global engine, which will be produced in Europe and other Asian markets like Vietnam

The scooter will be available across 50 dealerships spread across 35 cities. The plan is to double the reach to 100 dealers across 70 cities within the next one year.

Available in more than 100 countries with the sales of over 17 million units globally, Vespa has featured in over 200 hollywood movies riden by renowned celebarities like Audry Hepburn and Julia Roberts.

The company is also creating exclusive accessories under the Vespa brand to build its premium and luxurious image in the country

Chopra says the launch of the Vespa is just the beginning for Europe's largest scooter maker, with time, the company plans to bring in other brands like Piaggio Scooters amongst others in the Indian market.

The company plans to expand the reach of Aprilia dealership as well to 5 locations by end of 2012.