Yamaha R3 sales 2024 present a very weak picture – and the reason is simple – senseless price tag! Check out July’s and first four month’s numbers…
Someone at Yamaha thought of bringing the very brilliant R3 back to our shores. But due to low estimated volumes the Jap believed that getting it here as CBU/CKD will work. The full faired sportster was officially launched in India at an astronomical price tag of Rs 4.65 Lac! Reason – it is a CBU!
For reference, the much more powerful, and Italian Aprilia RS457 costs around Rs 4.10 Lakh as it is made locally. Now, whoever was the in-charge of the analysis team at Yamaha must have arrived at this price tag when the idea was at the conceptualization stage. And it was at this very point – Yamaha must have culled the very thought of bringing the otherwise brilliant R3 to India.
It was a writing on the wall – that at that ridiculous price tag the motorcycle is bound to fail; and failed it has! Here are the numbers for this financial year so far…
Yamaha R3 Sales 2024
| April to July 2024 | 67 units |
In the month of July, Yamaha could only manage to wholesale 6 units of the motorcycle and in the first four months it has shipped only 67 Units to its dealerships – resulting in an average of 16-17 units a month. This is roughly a revenue of only around 3 crores for this financial year – an amount Yamaha may have burnt only in the marketing of this motorcycle!
No point in even talking about rivals’ numbers – as almost everything around or under this price tag has been better than the R3. In fact, some much costlier bikes have done better than the imported R3. For reference, the mothership Hayabusa, which costs over Rs 17 Lakh registered total sales of 177 units during this period – which is more than double of R3!
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Yes, this comparison is really weird but so is Yamaha’s decision to bring in the very capable R3 as a CBU at that price tag. There is a word that the company will get it assembled locally. But again the point is – you already have burnt your fingers once (when the older gen R3 was in our market) and you know the air is not in your favor – you are, again trying to swim against the flow!
The R3 should have come to India – but as a locally produced motorcycle – at sense-making prices of around Rs 3.5-3.8 Lakhs – which is when the company could have expected it to do well. At this point, it is simply wasting its time and resources on this product!
