rendezvous yamaha india

And he’s a fortune

He sings, reads palms and rides at the same time; that’s what Pankaj Dubey is doing at Yamaha
question remains – can he take the two-wheeler maker back to its RX100 heydays in the near

pawan chabra

H
e isn’t one to sit atop laurels
earned by his company; in
fact, he believes that there is
direct
much to be achieved before
he can start patting his own back. That’s talk
Pankaj Dubey, National Business Head
of Yamaha India, for you. Interestingly,
even when we meet him at the compa-
ny’s Surajpur plant on a sunny Saturday
morning, Pankaj not only talks about Ya-
maha’s achievements, but also candidly
speaks about the slips and misses.
As is easily understood, the case of “We chose
Yamaha was that of a clear mismatch of
the personality of the brand and the at-
the word
tributes of the products offered during ‘yes’ as a
the early 2000s. But true as that was, the
manner in which the company has made tagline for
a resounding comeback in the Indian
market is laudable. Launching the right Yamaha as
products at the right price points, like
R15, FZ16, FZ-S and Fazer, the Indian
that’s the
subsidiary has managed to re-infuse life most posi-
into Yamaha’s global dreams. Today, the
company has managed to capture a de- tive word in
cent share of the premium segment,
thereby giving quite a decent competi-
English”
tion to heavyweight counterparts like
Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda, whose pre-
mium segment market share has clear-
ly been on crisis management after Ya-
maha took them by surprise. “But it
wasn’t all that easy a revival,” Pankaj ex-
plains, commenting on the efforts his
team put in to revive the Yamaha brand
in the minds of the Indian consumers.
The year was 2007, and in came
Pankaj as the new national business Pankaj Dubey
head of the two-wheeler manufacturer. NationalBusinessHead,Yamaha

26 4ps BUSINESS AND MARKETING 12 march - 25 M arch 2010

teller too!
India. Under him, the brand has won back lost glory in the Indian market. The only
future? Competition is tough, the love lost none the better, but Pankaj’s not flinching!
Soon, he’d launched innovative plans to
reinforce its image as a sporty and tech-
nologically-advanced bike maker in the
country. Thus followed the launch of the
Yamaha bike station along with some
sporty products, efforts which contrib-
uted greatly to Yamaha’s India position.
Talking about competition, Pankaj is
quite disarmingly honest, when he tells
us, “Hero Honda is a tough competitor
to beat in the entry level segment. Its ru-
ral penetration is its core competence...”
It takes quite some gumption to own up
to a competitor’s strength in public.
Dubey is quite comfortable with that. But
he’s not leaving it there. To further play
successfully with volumes, Pankaj is also
planning Yamaha’s entry into the scoot-
ers market and is in the middle of finalis-
ing its decision. When we ask him wheth-
er Yamaha would once again rule the
Indian market in the coming years as it
did during the RX100 days, Pankaj gives
a simple nod, adding that the situation
has improved by miles today, compared
to even a few years back.
Yamaha’s dream of becoming numero
uno will only come alive if it deals well
with threats posed by Hero Honda (which
is clearly the big daddy right now in the
entry-level segment) and Bajaj (whose
position has greatly improved of late).
Surely, donning the leader’s hat will cost
Pankaj some sweat and time, but he be-
lieves in his team and in the fact that they
can do it. Pankaj follows a decentralised
approach while managing his people, “I
believe in giving my colleagues space to
think freely and come out with creative
Photo:SujanSingh
ideas, rather than replicating and dupli- my favourites
cating conventional charts,” he says!
Pankaj is clearly deeply involved in Hobbies
various aspects of Yamaha. Here’s an Singing,
interesting fact – did you know that the astrology
latest Yamaha Anthem (the ‘Yes! Yamaha’
song) has been sung jointly by Sunidhi cuisine
Chauhan and Pankaj himself? That’s indian
how deep-rooted his involvement with
the marketing of the brand in India is! Favourite Leader
(Not surprisingly, Pankaj has won ac-
colades for his singing talent, during his
college days). Talking about the business
logic behind the jingle, Pankaj says, “We
were looking for a tagline which truly
reflected our business philosophy. Ya-
maha as a brand is perceived by the cus-
tomer as stylish and performance-ori-
ented and dependable. We only wanted
to reinforce the feeling with a short
phrase that would instantly catch the
customer’s attention. We therefore chose
the word ‘Yes’, as it is the most positive Ravi Kant,
word in the English dictionary...” Busi- Vice-Chairman,
nessman, singer... surely there had to be Tata Motors
more. “I have a lot of interest in palm-
istry,” says Pankaj. Case proved. favourite car
But Pankaj let us on to his secret – that
he idolises Ravi Kant, Vice-Chairman,
Tata Motors. Pankaj is greatly impressed
by Kant’s vision and leadership skills,
and dreams of being in his shoes one day.
“I also greatly admire Barack Obama, the
American President, but I don’t con-
sider him my idol, as my logic is that my
idol should be one who I can become
someday,” says Pankaj. Well, we can’t Mercedes
read palms as well as you do Pankaj. But
good wishes for the journey. 4Ps
12 march - 25 M arch 2010 4ps BUSINESS AND MARKETING 27