The wait for the Aprilia small capacity bikes seems to be getting longer and longer. However, when they do come, they will come with larger than 150cc engines.
Its been long since the country has been waiting for the small capacity bikes from Aprilia. First, the launch was delayed as Aprilia was still studying the market and its competitors. Now, latest reports suggest that Aprilia might not bring the RS 150 and the Tuono 150 with the earlier said 150cc engines at all. Instead, these bikes might see an increase in their cubic capacity to establish them as performance benchmarks in the 150-250cc category.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, Piaggio India’s MD and CEO, Diego Graffi, said that the company is working on bringing in premium mid-range products to India. He said, “I can confirm that the interest for the segment and what would be the market opportunity for it here in India exists. The brand will be Aprilia (and) the kind of bike will be a premium, mid-range with engine size between 150cc and 250cc. At present, we do not have a fixed date. It has taken a little bit longer than what we had planned initially as we want to find the best trade-off between what is the expected price and what is the level of local content (in the bikes) we are introducing.”
Based on the statements of Diego Graffi, chances are the new motorcycles from Aprilia could get a larger engine. Aprilia already has a 149.2cc engine that they use in the China-spec GPR 150 which makes roughly 18PS and 14Nm. It was earlier thought that Aprilia would introduce the same engine in India with the RS 150 and the Tuono 150. However, that plan seems to have been dropped now.
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Aprilia intends to achieve the performance benchmark with their new motorcycles in this category. They might have still achieved that had they launched the motorcycles earlier. However, with the launch of the new Yamaha R15 V3.0, the benchmark is quite high now and the R15 has also upped the game in terms of horsepower.
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If Aprilia seeks the crown of the best performing motorcycle in this segment, it will now need to step up the ladder with a bigger engine. The other main rival for the new Aprilias would be the Duke 200 and the RC 200 which make about 25PS of power from their 199cc engine. If Aprilia equips its motorcycles with 200-250cc engines, it should be able to take on the competition quite comfortably. And yes, we will just have to wait patiently till Aprilia finally decides on their strategy. Till then, stay tuned for more updates.
