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Around five years ago, Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. created a bold,
brand-new segment which was initially referred to as the “hybrid
scooter-underbone” category for the Asean market. Yamaha merged
the handling characteristics, economical operation and versatility
of the popular step-thru commuter motorcycle, (more commonly known
in the Philippines as the “underbone” motorcycle) with the
twist-and-go riding ease of a scooter.
Understanding and foreseeing the demand of the
Asean for motorcycles that will be used more as an everyday commuter
rather than as just an alternative means of transportation, Yamaha
designed the hybrid scooter-underbone as a versatile and convenient
motorbike to help riders traverse with ease and comfort the
worsening traffic of the major Asean cities. The Yamaha engineers
designed and came out with not only one but two models that they
offered to the market: the Nouvo and the Mio.
At first, their competitors looked at the
innovative Yamaha automatic hybrids as mere fads that will soon fade
away. But after the sales of the Nouvo and Mio shot off beyond the
expectations of Yamaha, other motorcycle companies scrambled to come
out with their own products that could compete with Yamaha’s
automatic duo.
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