Vespa has made its
presence again in the Indian market with new brand identity with the launch of
an all new 125 cc model under the brand ‘VESPA’. What is more interesting here,
is how Indian consumers will welcome this brand second time.
Going back to the
history, vespa initially entered india with the formation of JV between bajaj
auto and piaggio, later with LML. The brand has no smooth ride in Indian market
with one or two exceptions. The brand could not bring volume sales which led to
the demise of this brand. The main reason behind
the re-launch of vespa, is that Indian scooter market is growing at a CAGR of
20% and the market is estimated around 2.5 million units. Another reason could
be, the increasing interest shown by the consumers towards the scooter segment
and increasing scooter sales(Honda activa, TVS wego, pleasure).
What surprises one is
the brand positioning. As read somewhere, the brand tries to create new market-lifestyle
scooter segment, which falls under psychographic segmentation. And the target
market is youth who wants to be different & distinctive through their
fashion. The brand has tagline”Fashion Unchanged”. Deliberately the brand uses
funky colors to represent youthfulness.
The brand has done
really well in terms of design, look and style and the firm is confident on its
brand sales in india. The Italian company believes that vespa is the revered
and bestselling brand around the world and confident that Indian fashion and
style conscious consumers will make vespa, a grand success.
The new Vespa comes with
125cc, four stroke, 3-valve single cylinder air-cooled motor that delivers 10.06PS
of power @ 7,500rpm and 10.6Nm of torque @ 6,000rpm. It weighs 114kgs with a
fuel tank capacity of 8.0 litres and with a price tag of Rs. 66,661
(ex-showroom Maharashtra).
Typically, price
conscious Indian consumers look for value/utility while making a purchase
decision. This could be a challenge for the company to communicate value to the
consumers. The brand seems to be expensive and can be made affordable to see
the brand a grand success.
