Yamaha R15 sales will break record and the 155 platform will register sales of over 2 Lakh units for the first time ever this fiscal..
If you read my last year’s story on the R15 vs FZ sales battle, you would know that with remarkable sales increment, the R15 platform was just a shade below the FZ range till 2023 fiscal.
And as I had predicted before, the 155 platform based models have now outgunned the much cheaper FZs in the first nine months of this financial year data that we have with us. Before moving any further, here are the numbers..
R15 vs FZ – Sales (Apr-Dec 2023-24)
| R15/MT15 | 150cc FZs |
| 1,63,393 units | 1,43,946 units |
During the period under consideration, the FZs have dropped marginally whereas the R15 based models have seen an upward movement by roughly 18,000 units. At this run rate, the Yamaha R15/MT15 will easily cross that magical 2 lakh sales mark by the end of this fiscal – for the first time ever.
It must be noted that during the last few years, Yamaha has been trying to expand the FZ range in the 150cc segment and it now has as many as five sub-variants – FZ, FZ-S V3, FZ-S V4, FZ-S V4 DLX and the FZ-X. All these models are placed between Rs 1.16 Lakh and Rs 1.40 Lakh – fairly below the R15 range.
The sportier 155 platform has gone crazy in terms of pricing and has two models and four sub-variants. The MT15 is the streetfighter – available only in one single variant whereas the magnanimously popular R15 has three sub variants – the R15S (based on the V3 with unibody sear), R15 V4 and the R15M. Pricing window starts at around Rs 1.65 Lakh and almost touches Rs 2 Lakh mark!
So, in essence we are saying that extremely sporty 150cc models costing Rs 2 Lakh are beating the more utilitarian and affordable models from the same stable – and that generally does not happen very often!
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This is both good news as well as bad for Yamaha. One the one hand, its FZs are trailing and dropping from buyers minds whereas the crazy following for the performance oriented 155 based models is increasing – despite the hefty price increments.
That takes us back to the same old question that I have been asking – Numbers show that the 155 platform is extremely successful, then why isn’t Yamaha bringing the XSR155 that has a lot of following already – and why is it persisting with the FZX when it is, clearly, not yielding them sales!
