New Delhi, Nov 16: Escorts Yamaha Motor Company Ltd (EYMCL) , the 50:50 joint venture between Escorts and Japan's Yamaha Motor Company Ltd (YMCL), will launch four new models in india in the next five years.

The company has decided to invest a total amount of Rs 530 crore on the new models of which Rs 170 crore have already been spent.

As part of new launches, the company's first 125cc four-stroke motor cycle will be on roads by June 1998, company director, business development, Nikhil Nanda said here today.

The four-stroke bike is being designed by the Yamaha Motor Company Ltd."From next year onwards, the company will introduce a new product every year or bring out a variant of the existent model," Nanda said.

The company, which has a 25 per cent market share in motor cycle segment, is targeting 35 per cent market share by selling 300,000 units by the year 2000.Currently, the 750 crore company has a production capacity of 250,000 units per year and plans to increase it to 500,000 units by 2004. ``There is a huge demand for motorcycles in India and we intend to cash in on that,'' company marketing director Kent Minami told newspersons here late last night while launching three new two-wheeler models.

The company, he said, is investing Rs 530 crore for introducing new models in the country. Of this, Rs 170 crore has already been spent. About 70 per cent is expected to be spent in two years and the rest would be put in later. ``We will be launching four models in the next five years.''

Speaking on the occasion, company's director of business development Nikhil Nanda said, ``this is just the beginning of a new era in motorcycles in India.

The country will soon see a blitzkrieg of innovative, high performance and more eco-friendly bikes, as is the current trend worldwide today.''The company's expansion plan has also been laid out, he added. EYML is planning to double its production capacity from 2.5 lakh units at present to five lakh units by 2004.

With this expansion, the company expects to take up its turnover from the present Rs 800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore in five years.

To begin with, the company will come up with a four-stroke high-powered motorcycle by June next year. ``The 125 cc bike has been designed by Yamaha Motor Company purely for India. It will be priced at approximately Rs 48,000 and would deliver a power of 11 bhp,'' he added.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.