Italian motor vehicle manufacturer Piaggio Vehicles entered the Indian market in 1998. Today, the brand has a presence in both two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments in the country. Diego Graffi, CMD, Piaggio Vehicles, tells Storyboard18’s Shibani Gharat that by now the company has understood the pulse of the Indian consumers. He also highlights that the two-wheeler segment will see new disruptions. Davide Zanolini, executive vice president, marketing and communications at the Piaggio Group (also the chief marketing officer at Piaggio Fast Forward), discusses the company’s outlook with Gharat. The duo also share at length about the company’s new products in the pipeline, on the luxury scooter segment and more.
Piaggio also completed 10 years of having introduced Vespa (an Italian luxury brand scooter). Speaking on the key milestones the brand achieved in India, Graffi says, “When we entered 25 years ago in the 3-W segment in India, it was deemed unconventional, because this was the domain of the Indian automotive brands. We have been achieving and maintaining our leadership in the 3-W cargo space and in the 3-W diesel space. Further, we have been successful in introducing 3-W in the EV space in 2019. We are happy to have created a new market in the segment, where we were not existing.”
He further highlights, “At the beginning, there was an intention to reintroduce the brand in India. Today, Vespa is a part of the global strategy in India, and is one of the brands, which we can say is iconic.”
According to Zanolini, the big challenge for the segment not only in India but also in other markets is not to look at Vespa as a heritage or a vintage brand, but as the brand of the present times which can add relevance to the needs of the present generation.
He concludes, “I want Vespa to be identified as a premium player, and expect people to identify themselves with it.”
Watch the full interview here: