Yamaha India is preparing to launch the FZS Version 3 in India on January 21, 2019. The event will take place in Bangalore in the presence of Yamaha Motor India’s Chairman Motofumi Shitara. As Yamaha is known to organize press events only when they have something major to announce, the new product comes as an update to the bestselling 150cc FZ motorcycle in India. The design is completely different from the second generation model and leaked set of images show LED headlight and additional side fairing on the motorcycle.
The all-new design and refined 149cc engine may not prove that effective this time as Yamaha has moved away from the bulky streetfighter design to something that is more commuter-centric. As liquid cooling would have definitely raised the cost and so will ABS, Yamaha will play carefully with their FZ series. The present positioning of FZ V2 at INR 81,540 (ex-showroom) is a crucial point as no other brand offer fuel injection at this point. Yamaha is also renaming their FZ series to MT in most of the countries. For India, they can simultaneously retail both the options by leaving the affordable streetfighter performance to FZ series and putting MT-15 at a premium point. India-Spec MT-15 was recently spotted testing at a different location.
Yamaha MT-09 is the only available model with this nomenclature, clearing the buyers about the purpose of bringing the lightweight MT-15 into India. On the other hand, Yamaha understands that India being a volume centric market first needs the FZS Version 3 with more power and ABS. Staying under INR 1 lakh in any case, the new FZ will target almost two times the number of customers in comparison to the MT-15. However, Yamaha fans have proved that price may not be a barrier for them as R15 V3 scored more than 15,000 units in October 2018. The FZS Version 3 and MT-15 may collectively score double the number once launched in the country.
Images Source: Indian Autos Blog
