Piaggio will launch the most premium scooter from their portfolio, the Vespa 946 in India by the end of this fiscal year. The scooter is currently at the ARAI facility in Pune for homologation.
The Vespa 946 will be sold in India through the completely-built-unit (CBU) route and will not be available off the shelf but on order only. The scooter has an iconic design, and will go on sale to build the brand and not really increase the sales numbers. The company has sold more than 52,000 scooters since its launch last year; the introduction of this scooter might help them get some real exclusivity. Once launched, the Vespa 946 will be the most expensive scooter available in India.
The Vespa 946 is powered by a 125cc four-stroke single cylinder engine which churns out 12PS of power at 82500rpm and 10.33Nm of torque at 7000rpm. The scooter which has been inspired from the World War-2 era Vespa MP6 prototype has a body made of sheet steel with aluminium elements. The scooter come with factory fitted ABS system and ASR traction control system. The Vespa 946 features large 12-inch wheels; disc brakes at the front and rear, LED headlights, LED indicators and a full LCD dashboard which makes the scooter look stunning.
“The product is undergoing the homologation process under ARAI and this may take at least 3-4 months. Hopefully, it will be available from the fourth quarter of the current financial year,” said Ravi Chopra, CMD of Piaggio.
The scooter segment is the fastest growing segment in India. Piaggio is playing very smart move by opening a new premium sub segment in the country’s two wheeler market. Expect the scooter to cost between Rs 1.4 lakh and Rs 1.7 lakh because of high taxation on imported vehicles.
