Piaggio is considering fitting more advanced technologies in its current line-up of scooters in India. The company is considering replacing carburettor equipped in Vespa range of scooters with fuel injections. If we go by media reports, Piaggio could launch new range of scooters in the month of November.
Internationally, Piaggio uses fuel injectors in its scooters, as for the Indian two-wheeler market, fuel injectors were not being used because of inconsistency in fuel injectors hence Piaggio uses carburettor in its scooters in India. Sources working closely with Piaggio reveal that the company is working towards tweaking fuel injection system to make it compatible with the petrol available in India. Besides this, replacement of carburettor with fuel injectors will improve efficiency and performance of Piaggio scooters. We expect FI version of Vespa to be priced slightly higher than the standard variants, it is being expected that inclusion on fuel injectors will up Vespa price by Rs 4,000.
Launched a while ago in India, Piaggio’s contemporary looking retro-styled scooters have received good response from the customers in India. Vespa range is currently available in three variants- the Vespa, Vespa VX and Vespa S. Vespa range is available for sale at a starting price of Rs 68,333 and the high end variant is priced at Rs 74,075 (ex-showroom Mumbai). Power is supplied to the scooter through an air-cooled 125 cc engine that develops a top power output of 10 PS along with a peak torque of 10.6 Nm. Power is channelized through a CVT transmission. Other than the FI Vespa variants, Piaggio is also working on a new 150 cc fuel injected engine. The new 150 cc fuel injected scooters will be introduced in India by the end of this calendar year.
