Global Piaggio Boss Confirms New Scooters For India Besides Vespa

Vespas are expensive. Actually, Vespas are incredibly expensive. The latest fully-loaded options cost just as much as a Yamaha R15. And while that is great for maintaining the brand’s premium status, Vespa’s parent company, Piaggio, has recognised the need for more mass market options. In fact, it could also mean Piaggio-branded scooters roaming our streets.

Piaggio’s Chairman and CEO, Michele Colaninno, mentioned that while the company is happy with the current success of the Vespa as well as the Aprilia 457 bikes, things could be better. This includes new scooters that will enter the “value” segment, something that can hardly be said about the Vespa and Aprilia scooters currently, as the most affordable one of them all starts at ₹1.16 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

These new scooters will be locally-manufactured and might also be exported to other parts of the world. And during our recent conversation with Piaggio India’s chief, Diego Graffi, we know that a made-in-India and made-for-India electric scooter is also on the cards.

There’s also a possibility that we might see Piaggio becoming a bit bolder and roll in its heavyweight maxi-scooters into the country. We have seen the Yamaha Aerox 155 already being quite a popular model, the Hero Xoom 160 gaining a lot of interest and there are a fair few takers of these large scooters. Hence, perhaps 300 cc maxi-scooters at aspirational pricing could be a way to go forward for the Italians. 

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