Piaggio Group is gearing up to launch an all-new commuter scooter range in India to rival the likes of Honda Activa and TV Jupiter
Piaggio Group will launch an all-new commuter scooter range in the Indian market in the first half of 2027. This was confirmed by none other than Diego Graffi, Chairman and Managing Director of the company over a telephonic interaction with ET Auto. The brand is developing an India-specific platform which will spawn multiple commuter models to take on the likes of Honda Activa, Suzuki Access and TVS Jupiter. The company is planning to explore several engine options for the upcoming range of commuter scooters.
“The development is in full force actually and there will be multiple products under the same brand name with different content and features. So it is more a range of products than one single scooter,” said Graffi. However, he was quick to add that the upcoming Piaggio commuter scooter range will have the “distinctive element of premiumness”.
“The brand is something that I cannot disclose as of now, but it is definitely going to be a completely new platform developed specifically in India for the Indian market,” he added. The new scooter range will be developed specifically for the Indian market and exports could be considered at a later stage. For reference, the scooters under Vespa and Aprilia premium brands are locally produced in India while sold in a plethora of global markets.
On the other hand, the new commuter scooter models will “be originally born in India and dedicated to this market”. The Piaggio big boss further stated that the company has deployed numerous engineers to work on the new platform while the R&D team has also been expanded. “So far, it has been a very interesting challenge and I am quite happy with the pace of product development work,” revealed Graffi.
Graffi expressed confidence in the production capacity at its existing facility in Baramati while confirming that the new commuter scooter line-up will be locally manufactured at this very factory. Presently, the Vespa scooters are priced from Rs 1.20 lakh in the country. Hence, the upcoming Piaggio scooters will be affordable in nature to attract the mass-market buyers.
“It should be something that gives the customer the flavour of having a product that is designed as per Italian standards but customised for Indian applications,” he had elaborated. The commuter scooters will be sold through Vespa’s existing dealership network in Tier 1 cities. However, the company will expand its showrooms in the tier 2 and 3 cities for the upcoming budget-friendly scooter range.
