Yamaha Recruits Indonesian Girl Group to Sell Mio J Scooter

Would you buy a scooter from these young Asian women wearing schoolgirl uniforms? Yamaha Indonesia hopes you would. This is JKT48, a 28-member all-girl pop group based in Jakarta, and the new spokespersons for the 115cc Yamaha Mio J scooter.

JKT48 is what they call in the East a “Idol Group”. JKT48 is actually a spin-off franchise for AKB48, one of the world’s highest-selling pop acts. That’s why JKT48 was chosen to help Yamaha market the Mio J to teenagers.

Also in a bid to target younger customers, Yamaha is also offering a number of new color options while promoting the Mio J’s fuel economy. Yamaha is targeting sales of 900,000 units a year in Indonesia at a price of 12,930,000 Indonesian rupiahs (US$1400) a pop.

Indonesia is an important market for Yamaha. Sales dipped in Indonesia this year due to a disruption in production caused by flooding in Thailand, but scooters and motorcycles continue to sell. Yamaha Indonesia is also a sponsor for Yamaha’s factory MotoGP team, with the subsidiary’s slogan “Semakin Di Depan” (“Always in the Front”) prominently displayed on the M1. Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies have also been brought over to appear in various promotional visits.

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[Source: Yamaha, JKT48]

By Dennis Chung