APRILLA:- India’s first locally made Sport-Scooterbike

******************************************************************************* APRILLA:- India’s first locally made Sport-Scooterbike ******************************************************************************* Introduction:- *******************************************************************************

The scooter segment in India is one of the largest in the world, with nearly 50 LACS units sold in 2015, and a growth of 20% in the first half of 2016 over that in the same period last year. PVPL, a 100% subsidiary of Piaggio Group, manufactures of scooters and motorcycles as well as three and four wheeled commercial vehicles with a portfolio of brands that includes Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Apé. PVPL commenced its India operations in 1999, with the launch of the three-wheeler brand Apé The market for premium automatic scooters in India is steadily growing. First with the Vespa 125 cc range, followed by the Vespa 150 and now the Aprilia SR 150. The Vespa 150s and Aprilia SR 150 are the only four-stroke 150 cc scooters available across India. Aprilia is a well known name in two wheeler industry and world race community, the company has fascinating history of its growth. It was founded by Cavaliere Alberto Beggio in 1945 at Noale, Italy in the province of Venice; initially it produced bicycles later in 1968, it started developing mopeds and motorcycles. Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle company, one of the marques owned (overtaken merger and Acquisition) by Piaggio. In the year 2004, Aprilia was took over by Piaggio & C. SpA that is world's fourth largest motorcycle group with 1.5 billion Euro in sales The first products of Aprilia were the Colibrì and Daniela mopeds. Having started as a manufacturer of bicycles it moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. In more recent times Aprilia has produced large sportbikes such as the 1,000 cc V-twin RSV Mille and the V4 RSV4. This vehicle is an excellent expression of the Noale manufacturer’s sport expertise and offers technology and style superior to those of its direct competitors in the segment,” Aprilia products range includes road, off-road, adventure, and scooters. The popular models are RSV4 Factory, RSV4, Tuono 1000R Factory, Shiver 750, Dorsoduro, Aprilia RX/SX 50, ETV 1000 Caponord, Pegaso 650, RXV 4.5 - 5.5, Atlantic 250/125, Leonardo 125/150/250, Aprilia mojito/habana 50 custom & retro, SR 50 R, Sportcity 250 200 125, Scarabeo 50/100, etc. The company is going to introduce a couple of two wheelers in India shortly. Piaggio India will launch two new scooters under the Aprilia brand in India this year. The first scooter will be the facelifted Aprilia SR150, which will get a few changes. The facelifted SR150 was showcased at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo. Key changes on the facelifted model include a new instrument cluster that has a digital-analog layout, digital-analog instrument cluster and new color/graphics options. The Race edition gets a Italian tri-color color theme inspired by Aprilia’s factory racing livery. Apart from these changes, the scooter will also get a new special edition model called the SR150 Carbon SE. The special edition variant features a lot of carbon-fiber inspired bits such as a carbon fibre textured wrap on the front apron, engine cover and handlebar cowls. The scooter also sports ‘Carbon’ branding on the alloy wheels and engine cover. However, the engine on the facelifted SR150 will be the same 154.8 cc, four stroke unit with 11.4 Bhp of peak power and 11.5 Nm of peak torque. A CVT automatic gearbox, in regular and race trims will be standard.

******************************************************************************* Achievements:- ******************************************************************************* The first motocross bike was introduced in 1970 christened Scarabeo that was having 50cc and 125cc versions. On 15 August 2010, Aprilia became the most successful motorcycle racing brand in history, surpassing fellow Italian MvAgusta with a record 276th victory. In more recent times Aprilia has produced large sportbikes such as the 1,000 cc V-twin RSV Mille and the V4 RSV4.

******************************************************************************* PRICING:- ******************************************************************************* Aprilia SR 150 Race Launched In India At Rs. 70,288. Piaggio Group has launched the Aprilia SR150 Race in the country priced at Rs. 70,282 (ex-showroom, Mumbai). The SR150 Race comes in less than six months after the regular SR150 scooter was. The lowest priced model is the Aprilia SR125 at Rs. . The highest priced model is the Aprilia RSV4 RF at Rs. 26,83,560.

******************************************************************************* Marketing MIX:- ******************************************************************************* Aprilia currently offers 13 bikes for sale in India, which comprises 8 Street bike s, 2 Scooters and 2 Sports bikes. If recent reports are to go by, Aprilia is also expected to introduce the Aprilia SR 125 to the Indian market. The design aesthetics of the SR 150 reflect the sporty character of the Aprilia brand with a light weight engine which creates a new category in India’s the scooter segment.” The Aprilia SR 150 will be characterized by 14" wheels with five spokes that are similar to the Aprilia racing bikes which are seen on the Moto GP championship circuits. It will have a single cylinder 150cc, 4-stroke engine. With it, Piaggio will reach out to the urban youth who are not only dynamic but also embrace international culture and are upwardly mobile.

******************************************************************************* Company in INDIA: ******************************************************************************* The Vespa scooter was introduced in India in April 2012. The Company has a state-of-the-art plant in Baramati, Maharashtra, India where it manufactures the iconic Vespa alongside its wide range of 3 and 4 wheeled commercial vehicles.

******************************************************************************* Resemblance: ******************************************************************************* The Aprilia SR 150 is the country’s first sports scooter and borrows the powerplant from the Vespa 150 cc models.

******************************************************************************* SALES:- ******************************************************************************* The bookings for the Aprilia SR 150 will commence shortly and will be available through Piaggio Group’s distributor network across the country. Owned by the Piaggio Group, volumes for the Vespa and Aprilia badged scooters have grown by 90.97 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2017-18 on year on year basis. 150 cc models by Piaggio accounted for nearly 60 percent of the sales. The 150 cc scooters sales in Q1 2017-18 amounted to 2,782 units. Between April and June 2017, Aprilia and Vespa sold 13,572 units, up from 7,107 scooters the same time last year. The 125 cc Vespas accounted for 5,279 units while the 150 cc Vespa models and Aprilia SR 150 amounted to 8,293 units. In the month of June 2017, the company sold 2,782 automatic scooters up from 705 units in June 2016. The 125 cc models in July 2017 amounted to 1,733 units up from 1,622 scooters. Piaggio at present has a less than 1 percent market share. With more than 60 percent of the volumes coming from the 150 cc segment, the company can hope the numbers to rise further.

******************************************************************************* Merger and Acquisition:- *******************************************************************************

In the year 2004, Aprilia was took over by Piaggio & C. SpA that is world's fourth largest motorcycle group with 1.5 billion Euro in sales; the group has its network in around 50 nations. After the acquisition, Roberto Colaninno is the president of Aprilia and the MD is Rocco Sabelli while the founder-Ivano Beggio, is the Honorary President.

******************************************************************************* Storm 125:- ******************************************************************************* The final scooter by Aprilia for India this year will be the Storm 125. The scooter features the same 125cc, four stroke engine and CVT automatic transmission combination available on the SR125, but comes in brighter colours – matte red and matte yellow. Other key changes include 12 inch wheels replacing the 14 inch wheels, but with off road biased tubeless tyres: 120/80 section at the front and 130/80 section at the rear. The engine on the Storm 125 makes 9.5 Bhp and 9.9 Nm, and is carbureted. From April 2019, the Aprilia SR125 range including the Storm 125 will get a combi-braking system. The SR150 is expected to get a single channel ABS option. Combi-braking system, already available on Honda’s Activa-based automatic scooters, activates both the front and rear brakes even when a single brake lever (front or rear) is pressed. ABS, or anti-lock braking system on the other hand, is more advanced. It uses sensors and a ECU to sense wheel speed and make sure that the wheels don’t lock up even under hard, emergency braking. It prevents the vehicle from skidding, and offers better control even during emergency braking maneuvers. *******************************************************************************