Vespa: Rel-aunch

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.