Tuk Tuk/ Scooter Taxi Dress - So Cute!

Summer may be waning, but you can keep the spirit of a far east holiday with this super-cute Asian Expedition dress from eShakti.

The dress sells for $65 and has:

• Cotton cambric; hand wash
• Back exposed metal clip closure
• Front scoop neck, back v-neck
• Banded waist
• Above knee length
• Lined in cotton voile

The company allows you to customize their products for a nominal fee. This was for sale a few months ago, disappeared from the site before I could blog it and has since returned. Get it now!

Detail of block printing

Blog Entry Soundtrack:

Bajaj to Exit the Scooter Market (?)

Just saw this article in the Business Standard of India, which says that Bajaj will exit the scooter business in favor of trying to overtake the small motorcycle business that Honda has been dominating. Sad! According to the story:

The decision to move away from scooters, according to Bajaj, is pegged on three reasons. One, the company is seeing good profitability in selling strong brands like Pulsar and Discover 100cc motorcycles.

“Our EBITDA margin for the second quarter of this year stands at 22 per cent, which is the highest in the auto industry so far. For the third quarter we hope to do better.” Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking, said margins derived from selling Pulsars were above industry average, at 15 per cent.

Secondly, he thinks the worldwide motorcycle market is growing faster than scooters. “There is enough headroom for growth both in the domestic and the export markets. Currently we manufacture around 50,000 units of Boxers in China, which are sold in the export market.” The Boxer is sold as Platina in India.

Lastly, address the top end with KTM motorcycles. The company has a 31.72 per cent stake in Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM, which manufactures motorcycles of 250cc configuration.

“So, we make more money by being focused as motorcycle specialists rather than producing everything and making no money at all like the Chinese manufacturers,” Bajaj added.

So has everyone abandoned the Vespa-styled manual shift scooters? Sad! Sad! Sad!

"The company is putting in all of its resources towards becoming the number one motorcycle manufacturer in the world." Anyone want to take bets on how that will shake down?

Found on Flickr: Don Eduardo's Fascinating Photos

I found these images on Flikr of scooters in the midst of life in India. Great look at the everyday life of the Indian scooter. So different from USA scootering, but we all share the love of the two-wheels...

LML Reuntied with Geared Scooters

LML gave up the geared scooters for motorcycles saying that the Indian market had changed, but it looks like they have realized the error of their ways. Interesting that the scooter market has grown and motorcycles proved less lucrative.

From the Economic Times:

NEW DELHI: The beleaguered two wheeler company LML has launched its second geared scooter in the domestic market, on the back of a revival of
demand in domestic scooter market. LML has introduced a 4-stroke version of its NV brand of scooters in select market of Delhi and Ghaziabad.

Available in two variants, LML claims the 150 cc scooter delivers a fuel efficiency of 55 km/litre. It is available at an ex-showroom price of Rs 39,897 for the base version and Rs 40,800 for the deluxe variant in Delhi.

Kanpur-based LML re-entered the domestic market with its Vespa brand of geared scooters in April 2007 after an 18-month hiatus when it had to stop production due to fund crunch and labour problems.

LML currently has a limited presence in the domestic market and sells 1,500 units of its two-stroke scooter under the Vespa brand in Delhi, parts of Punjab and Haryana, every month. Operating under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), it is looking to expand its market to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

Bulk of its total production of 5,000 units per month are exported to Italy, UK, France, Nigeria, Sudan, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Egypt, under the Stella brand. LML has an installed capacity of 300,000 scooters and 240,000 motorcycles. The company has totally stopped motorcycle production.

The scooter market grew 9% to 11.45 lakh units last fiscal outperforming the two wheeler market which posted a marginally lower growth of 2.6% in the same period.

File under: "Ewwww!"

Saw this article online about two scooterists who used their scooter to dispose of a body. Either they are super ballsy or people just don't pay that close attention to the sacks on the backs of scooters:

HYDERABAD: Two scooterists carrying the body of a murdered man managed to give the police a slip, and later, dumped the body in an isolated place in Borabanda locality on Saturday afternoon.

A horrified motorist riding alongside the scooter near Meter Factory in Sanathnagar, noticed legs sticking out of the sack on the scooter and alerted policemen manning a roadside check post. Even as the policemen jumped on their motorbike to chase, the scooterists drove into a maze of lanes and bylanes of Borabanda–Erragadda area.

Read the full, odd article at The Hindu.

Blog entry soundtrack: "The Volcano" by The Aggrolites.

Scooters and Primates

Saw this photo online and thought that it was proof that primates are smart... they like scooters, or at least they'll feign interest for food.

Bajaj Longs for Scooter Successes

In a recent article in the Hindustan Times it is said that Indian motorcycle manufacturer, Bajaj, is considering producing scooters once again. The company had decided to put their efforts into motorcycles, but found that the still strong 100cc market was falling to Honda and others. They are losing market share, and may yearn for their scooter business which earned them an 80% market share. Does this mean that the Chetak or Legend will return? Who knows as Bajaj is keeping it secret.

Amusing story of scooting in India...

I ran into this story on the web. It's from a journalist with the Hindustan Times who took a two-person journey by scooter. It's a quick, fun read. Enjoy!

Read The Motor Scooter Diaries by Neha Dara.

P.S: Look to the July issue of Scoot! for another cool story of scooting in India.