Yamaha YZF-R3
Yamaha YZF-R3yamahamotorindia/news

Yamaha Motor India has confirmed that the company currently has no plans for the localisation of the sportsbike YZF-R3 in the country. The move is not being considered as the bike meets Yamaha's expectation in terms of sales, Roy Kurian, vice-president (sales and marketing), Yamaha Motor India told Autocar Professional.

Rumours were doing the rounds that Yamaha would consider manufacturing the parts of the YZF-R3 locally to reduce the prices of the model in India. Yamaha YZF-R3, the quarter-litre motorcycle, which was launched in August last year, is priced at Rs. 3.25 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

It was also reported that the YZF-R3 has been making meagre sales and the company could not sell even a single unit of the model in the coming months. While some had said this could be due to the premium price tag, others thought Yamaha dealers were shying away from this model as the company wants them to take 20 units of Yamaha regular models to get one R3.

Roy Kurian told the publication that the company has sold over 600 units of the YZF-R3 within 6 months of its launch in the country and Yamaha is confident that the sales of the model will eventually go up. Although Yamaha's sales expectation was 200 units per month for the YZF-R3, it manages to sell only about half the number currently.

YZF-R3 has been launched in India as CKD (Completely Knock Down) units from the company's manufacturing plant in Indonesia. Powered by a 321-cc twin-cylinder fuel-injected engine, which can churn out 42 PS of power at 10,750 rpm and 29.6 Nm of torque at 9,000 rpm, Yamaha R3 comes with a six-speed transmission.

[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]