Vespa eyes pre-Covid sales this year; targets 1 lakh next year

KOLKATA: Iconic Italian brand

Piaggio India

will add 125 dealers in 110 cities over the next two years in its quest to establish a presence in as many target cities that currently clock 1,000-plus monthly scooter sales.


Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of the special

Vespa

75th edition launch to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Italian brand that became a global fashion icon in the 1950s following the release of

Audrey Hepburn-Gregory

Peck starrer

Roman Holiday

, Piaggio India business head (two-wheelers) Sudhanshu Agrawal said the company was expecting to bounce back to pre-Covid figures and sell 80,000 units this year, similar to what it had achieved in 2019. Last year, the numbers had dropped to around 51,000 units.

“The Vespa and

Aprilia

brands are on track to achieve sales of 80,000 units this year and are targeting 100,000 units next year. The Vespa brand will continue to contribute around 65% sales,” Agrawal told TOI.

Key to achieving the numbers will be its network growth from 275 dealers in 190 cities to 400 dealers in 300 cities. A big chunk of the new dealerships will be in north India where it has a poor presence at present. While over half its sales are generated from markets in south India, north constitutes only 3-4% of its sales pie. The remaining numbers are divided nearly equally between east and west.

Agrawal says the company could have targeted even higher numbers this year had the monsoon not been this heavy and colleges opened. In the Aprilia brand, college students are a bulk of customers.

While 30% of Aprilia customers are women, they comprise half of Vespa customers. Of the women customers, 10% are home-makers with the rest being students and young professionals.


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