Recently the pricing of the Aprilia Rs 457 was revealed for the US market which when converted to Indian prices seemed quite steep. Fortunately, that may not be the case and Mr Diego Arioli, Head of Product Marketing Motorcycles, Piaggio Group gave some insights related to RS 457 in India.
He says the main plan is to not make the bike available at CBU prices but at the same time he confirms that to maintain Aprilia’s premium status and heritage, the bike won’t compete with other market players when it comes to price. Arioli believes that given the RS 457 sports a parallel twin motor, aluminium chassis and premium tech, it is justified to carry an ambitious price.
But premium shouldn’t mean overpriced especially when it comes to a bike that aims to be sold commercially and not to particular people like Bugatti does. In that regard, Arioli assures that though the bike needs to carry an ambitious and not for everyone, it still needs to be reasonable enough and the company has decided to keep the price between Rs 3.75 to 4 lakh.
Aprilia has some big plans to expand its dealership and employee training to provide the right experience to customers for such an expensive product and mind you, the RS 457 will be Piaggio’s first locally made two-wheeler that’s 2 or 3 times costlier than the existing Aprilia and Vespa Lineup.
Arilio also adds that the entry of RS 457 might have a positive effect on India’s big bike business as well. The main problem big bike owners face in the country is servicing, opening more premium Motoplex outlets in large cities will help fix the problem to a great extent and in turn help boost the sales of the big bikes.
Well, Mr Arilio says that he sees the Indian market with a class of customers who are always looking out for what is provided in future and with the current offerings being mostly the affordable fully faired bikes with single cylinders, this market seems the perfect proposition to start the next big story of bigger twin cylinder bikes and that’s why the RS 457 is being launched here.
The Rs 457 is a global product and will be sold in Europe with the same specs for now, India is the only production base with CKD assembly likely to commence on later dates since Aprilia has 6 production facilities worldwide – India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the rest in Italy.
As for how the Aprilia RS 457 justifies its 4 lakh price tag for the equipment, design, brand value and premium tech with Mr Arilio also believing it does, we will just have to wait till next year for the bike to launch in India.
