Yamaha Neo postpones launch in India

Yamaha India Chairman Eishin Chihana told us around a year ago that the business was preparing to debut its Neo

electric scooter

The original idea was to export an Indianized version of the fashionable Neo scooter. Chihana assured us at the time that it would have a longer range than the 37 km of the Euro-spec scooter, but that it would be challenging to match their competitors' 100 km range claims. However, according to Chihana, as time went on Yamaha began to see that typical EV buyers in India differ from those in Europe who purchase EV scooters largely for environmentally good, green motives. Chihana said,  "Low costs of operation are India's primary driving force. People mostly purchase for economic reasons because of the high cost of gas. That contrasts with our consumers who purchase internal combustion vehicles, who choose motorcycles like the R15 and MT-15 for their aspirational value, style, and performance in addition to their economic worth.” He claimed to be putting a lot of emphasis on creating a product that is fun, fashionable, and athletic. That is what a Yamaha is worth.

Yamaha has already begun working on this project for India, and we anticipate it will take two to three years to complete. The longer-than-anticipated wait for a Yamaha e-scooter may frustrate some people, but it is definitely for the best. After all, the Neo was a really attractive scooter, but it lagged behind the greatest EVs now being sold in India in terms of performance and range.