‘We are expanding business in developing countries’

Hideto Kawamura, Department Head, Overseas Sales Division of Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd, India recently visited Nepal to officially launch Yamaha Ray, a new scooter from Yamaha.  In his 10 years of career in Yamaha Motors, Kawamura has worked in various departments ranging from services to sales and marketing. He joined the company in 2002 as the In-charge of CKD export operation and marketing support for Indonesian Market products. He moved to India in 2012 and has been overseeing export from India. In an interview with New Business Age, Kawamura shared the expansion plan of his company in Nepal. 

Excerpts:

Would you please describe the Ray Scooter that you just launched? 

The Ray Scooter is specially made for women. The height of the seat is lower than the competitors. Overall, it is very comfortable for female riders.  On the other hand, the mileage of the Ray is the best among the scooters segment available in Nepal. And, it has better pick up. The scooter is good enough to ride for two people and it goes smoothly while climbing the slopes.

 How do you find the demand of your product in Nepal? 

We see a great market for scooters in Nepal. Though our product is new in Nepali market compared to other products, we are confident that our product will be popular among the riders. The scooter market in Nepal is basically owned by other models like Dio from Honda. But our product is competitive enough to take on them. Ray scooter would win customer’s trust in every aspect; style, pick up, mileage and overall. I believe we will own around 20 per cent market share in Nepal in 2013/2014. We will try our best to achieve that. 

What are the other products that you are planning to launch in Nepal? 

We are considering launching variation models of Ray scooter in Nepal in near future. But I cannot say more about it right now.

How are you expanding your business internationally? 

Today, Yamaha sells around 7 million units of two-wheelers a year all over the world including in Japan, USA and European countries. We are also expanding our business in developing countries like Nepal.  Now, we have the largest market shares in South East Asia mainly in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. And we are expanding our business in African countries. 

How do you see the prospects of your business in Nepal? 

Until 2012 December, we sold around 12,000 motorcycles in Nepal. It will expand much more and our sales could see up to 40 per cent growth compared to previous year. We have a plan to launch another variation of scooter that will also contribute to the growth.