Yamaha plans to fight fiercely in the Indian market and has carved out an intense future launch plan. Yamaha very recently launched a new 125cc bike SS125 silently, which is a refreshed Gladiator and now plans to launch a new 150cc sales enhancing low-er cost bike Yamaha SZ. The bike would be more or less similar to what was shown earlier in this year’s auto expo. And with the launch of this bike the total tally of 150ccs from the stables would go upto 5! We have always wondered why was Yamaha late in such an offering!
The bike would sport the same mill from FZ series, though, in a little subdued state of tune to prevent cannibalization with the elder siblings. The power figures might be lower than the 14ps produced by FZs mill and we also might see a little reduction in torque figures.
Basically, the SZ would be a 150cc Yamaha for the masses! Yamaha’s current 125s are priced around 56k (On Road Pune) and the next in line is the FZ16 which costs close to 73k (On Road Pune). This leaves us to a huge vacuum in between and SZ is a step to fill this void.
It would be immensely beneficial for Yamaha if they manage to price SZ around 60-63k on road price bracket. If priced and pursued well, SZ has big potential to set Yamaha’s sales chart spiraling to new heights. It must also be remembered that FZ series managed to garner 7K units on an average per month last year despite a very steep price tag. Unfortunately and ironically, as a result of typical Indian mindset, Yamaha manages around 20k odd units per month with brand new technology and engines whereas age old engines fetch some other companies many lakh units per month!
The bike has been reported to be spotted testing around Pune and the launch is scheduled within this week. We remain glued with fingers crossed as this might be an important launch for Yamaha and future strategies might depend a lot upon this bike’s success.
- The various offerings which we saw on the concept bike are as follows:
- Commuter type oval shaped Rear View Mirrors
- Tank extensions to make the bike look bigger
- Muscular tank but smaller tank than FZ
- Gladiator like all black handlebar
- Redesigned exhaust with machine gun type muffler similar to Gladiator
- Plain jane seat
- Round rod type traditional grab rails
- Traditiona twin shock absorbers in contrast to FZ’s monos
- 5 spoke alloys
- 2.75 and 100 front and rear section 17 inch tyres respectively
- White colored speedometer calibrated to 140kmph
- Tachometer calibrated to 13k rpm redlining at 9.5k rpm
- Basic console with fuel meter and the basic lights
- FZ reminiscent covered headlamp along with a transparent windshield (smaller than R15)
– Saad Khan
