Yamaha R3 sales data for the first month is out and it will be very interesting to see how things pan out for these 300s once things settle…
The good news is that we have two new additions in the very hot 300-500cc space and that too from Yamaha! The bad news, however, is that the motorcycles – R3 and MT03 have been brought as CBUs (not even CKDs; forget local manufacturing) and costs astronomical Rs 4.60-4.65 Lac ex-showroom!
The official announcement took place in December 2023 and the motorcycles are being booked at the official Yamaha website – which suggests that they may be shipped on order. And to my surprise, Yamaha has dispatched 30 units of both the 300s, according to the official SIAM sales data that we have.
Even 30 units a month is something Yamaha may not be able to settle at, once things normalize, simply because of the absurd pricing. And even these 30 units may include some display bikes for dealerships – and may not be customer orders.
Direct rival of the Yamaha R3 Kawasaki Ninja 300 is priced at Rs 3.43 Lac and it managed 80 units (including KLX300R) in the same month. Another very interesting motorcycle – the latest Aprilia RS457 – which has far better specs than the Yamaha R3, costs Rs 4.10 Lac – much lesser than the Yamaha’s faired motorcycle. It is scheduled for deliveries from March onwards – which means we may see some dispatches from February onwards.
We hope to see some corrective action from Yamaha, if it is serious about its 300s doing some respectable business. Else, it may, yet again, see big failures in the market. And that would not be due to any problems with the motorcycles but lack of proper planning from the management! I will keep an eye on the response that the R3 and the MT03 get in the month to come, at these senseless prices…
Also Read: Exclusive: R15 Platform is a Bigger Seller Than Yamaha’s Own FZ Brand
