The scoter segment has always been dominated by automotive Japanese brands. At present having 64 per cent share in the category this is yet to increase with Yamaha launching its range of automatic scooters later in the year.

The sixth largest two-wheeler company, India Yamaha Motors would start with its retail of an automatic scooter called "Ray" September onwards. The company has been working on building this for the past three years, keeping in mind specially its female customers. The company thereafter will start on its powerful models for its male customers. As there are no products in the model the company is launching, it hopes to have an edge over the market.

Talking about the new scooter model, CEO and managing director Hiroyuki Suzuki said, "We will have to address the needs of men and women with different products and there has to be a product which will be common to both. So we will look at tapping into each sub-segment of the scooter segment in the coming period." Additionally the company is looking forward in bringing a common utility scooter that would cater to the needs of both men and women. "With the entry into scooters, which are high-margin products, we should be able to break even our operation in 2012 or 2013," says Jun Nakata, director sales & marketing, India Yamaha.