Category: International

More on Bajaj’s scooter rebirth

Following last month’s reports that Bajaj was looking to re-enter the scooter market, Moneycontrol India reported last week that Bajaj will launch the Kristal (for the ladies) in January, and re-introduce the Blade. Rajiv Bajaj, who seemed creepily gleeful a year ago when he proclaimed the Chetak dead, is hyping his mysterious hi-tech blockbuster 150cc scooter to the press and making it clear that it won’t be secondary to the Bajaj motorcycle line; it will be “insightfully positioned” (is that Rajiv for “boutique?”) at only 100 of Bajaj’s 500 dealerships. You’d think Bajaj could learn from Piaggio’s mistakes, even if Piaggio can’t. “Given that the Honda Eterno sells 90,000 units a year,” says Vespa Club of America historian John Gerber, “I have to wonder if they would try to compete in this niche with another geared scooter.” I think that seems unlikely, but I don’t think for a second that Rajiv would have any problem pillaging the “Chetak” name.

4th Annual MGPC Scooter Cup

This weekend, Macau (a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China) plays host to the 53rd annual Macau Grand Prix.  The Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, run on the Guia Circuit made up of the streets of Macau, is part of a dieing breed of Real Road Racing.  The notoriously dangerous race is favored by racers who normally take part in the celebrated Isle of Mann TT.  Also being held is the 4th annual MGPC Scooter cup.  The race is open to Macau residents and follows the 40th annual Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday November 18th.  The race includes 50cc or 70cc two stroke scooters and 125cc 4 stroke scooters, each with their own class.  PGO entered a G-Max 125 (aka Genuine Blur) in 2004 and won the 125cc class by placing 14th overall. This years entry list does not show a PGO taking part but there are plenty of Yamahas and a smattering of SYM scooters making up the race grid. 2005 podium residents Kin Fei Lai, Mou Heng Tou and Kin Fai Chan (finishing in that order) return for this years challenge. The Scooter Cup, run on the same circuit, has got to be the coolest scooter race on earth. The Macau Grand Prix Committee website offers live audio of the race.

India proposes “spares law”

As anyone who’s bought an Italjet or Malaguti in the last ten years can tell you, it’s frustrating to spend a few grand on a motor vehicle, then find out a month later that a $5 component you need to replace will never be available again at any price. The Indian government is taking steps to require vehicle manufacturers to provide parts and service for five years after a model is discontinued or (handy for LML owners) if the company shuts its doors or changes hands. The Indian Business Standard reports that a new car model is launched in India every month. Meanwhile, Daewoo Motors Ltd., Premier Automobiles Ltd., Hero Puch Ltd., and LML, have all shut down. These closures and remaining manufacturers’ haphazard product lines are leaving millions of customers helpless to maintain and repair their cars, mopeds and scooters.

The article cites “similar laws in the US and the UK,” begging two questions: First, where do American Italjet and Malaguti owners get the proper forms; second, how can a government force a defunct importer of a defunct manufacturer (or worse, a fly-by-night importer dumping Chinese scooters on the market) to provide parts and service?

Is the “Lambretta” name alive in Sri Lanka?

Following worldwide scooter news, I’ve occasionally seen stories from Sri Lanka, usually in business news or stock reports, mentioning “Lambretta (Ceylon) Ltd.” or “Lambretta Motors.” From what I can tell, Lambretta (Ceylon) Ltd. once manufactured Lambretta scooters in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), but was acquired in 2000 by a dairy company. It appears that company was renamed “Kotmale Holdings Ltd” in 2005, but I still see financial reports referring to “Lambretta Motors.” Surely there’s not an assembly line in Colombo secretly churning out SX200s, but I’d appreciate any information regarding Lambretta (Ceylon) Ltd and/or Lambretta Motors, if only because I’m curious about the name, whether they’re the same company or two separate companies, and what they’re doing these days.

Indian government demands justification for LML lockout

From the Hindustani Times, who always delete their stories from the server a few hours after posting them, for some reason, so I’ll just post the whole thing:

LABOUR MINISTER Waqar Ahmad Shah on Monday issued notice to the LML management seeking explanation why not lock-out at its Panki unit should be declared illegal. The minister also sought an explanation from the management why the plant was closed.

The notice, which was issued on Saturday, has solicited an explanation from the LML management within a week. “If the management fails to give any satisfactory reply by Friday then the lock-out will be declared illegal.”

Talking to Hindustan Times on telephone, the labour minister said, “The extreme step of sending notice has been taken after undue delay by the LML management in re-opening its unit.”

He added that earlier the LML management had informed about the efforts being made by it for the re-opening of the plant, therefore some grace period was given to the management.

But, even after passage of the adequate time, no convincing reply had come from the management about ending the lockout, added Shah.
“Notice has been issued to the LML management on Saturday last and if no convincing reply is given then action will be taken by the State Government as per law,” asserted Shah.

The minister also said that on Sunday last a delegation of the LML Employees’ Union had come to meet him. “I assured members of the delegation that all due care will be taken about the welfare of employees. I also assured then about the payment of their pending dues,” added Shah.

However, company director RK Srivastav said that the company had not received any notice from the minister. “If any notice is served to the company then its reply will be sent, added Srivastav.

He added that the LML management wanted to restart the unit and a meeting with vendors of the company had also taken place on October 22 last.

So what does that mean for LML and the Star/Stella/Belladonna? Who knows. Probably not much, but we’ll watch closely for more news on Sunday.