Piaggio to Expand its Two-Wheeler Sales Network Biz in India

NEW DELHI – Italian two-wheeler maker Piaggio has decided to expand its sales network in India. Currently, the company holds 250 sales outlets and it is planning to scale its business in the country. And it is expected to take place by the end of 2019, Piaggio top official said. He said although the company seeks to grow its volume in the world’s largest two-wheeler market still, it doesn’t want to be perceived as mass segment player.

“We plan to expand our volumes in both domestic and export markets. Currently, our sales network is very limited (in India) as we are one of the last players to come on board here,” Piaggio Vehicles India MD & CEO Diego Graffi told while presenting his statement.

“Through this expansion of sales network, we plan to expand our presence….we are planning to have 350 active dealerships by the end of this year,” Graffi said. Also, he said as it has been only 6 years since the company re-entered the company, there is a huge area where a company is not present in terms of the sales network.

On being asked whether the company would be interested in competing with the mass market players in the market, Graffi said: “Wherever we are present all across the world in the two-wheeler space, we do not want to be perceived as a mass segment player. We are not interested in that (mass segment). We are not interested in the market share…we are among the top when it comes to brand recall…that is what we are looking at.”

Piaggio manufactures Vespa and Aprilia SR 150 in Baramati in Maharashtra. In 2017-2018, the company sold 74,707 units of Vespa and Aprilia in India. Graffi also demanded the slash of GST from government and said it is not favorable for the company to sell two-wheelers with such a high GST rate. Piaggio is not the first company which has raised the issue of reduction in GST. Many other automobile companies namely, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor had earlier demanded the reduction in the GST rates on the sale of two-wheelers.

“So my idea is that reduction of GST rates on two-wheelers from 28 percent to 18 percent is quite recommendable from our point of view,” Graffi said.