Will Aprilia Unveil A Yamaha R15 V3.0 Rival Next Month?

All signs point to it, and we couldn't be more excited

If you remember, Aprilia had brought two motorcycles at the 2018 Auto Expo - the RS 150 and the Tuono 150. Although it said ‘RS 150,’ the motorcycle was actually a 125cc underneath the fairing. After showcasing the RS and the Tuono, everyone (including us) were quite excited, hoping Aprilia will finally launch a mass-market motorcycle in India. But now that we are in 2020 with no new Aprilia in sight, we try to analyse when will we get an Aprilia motorcycle -- but most importantly, will it really be a 150?  

Back in January 2019, we got exclusive images of the production-spec GPR 150, which led us to believe that Aprilia might be launching the GPR 150 in India. Although the GPR didn’t look as sharp as the RS 150, we were relieved to see at least one spy shot of a sub-300cc Aprilia in India. Back then, the Italian bike maker had confirmed the upcoming motorcycle will be powered by a 150cc liquid-cooled unit that belts out 18PS and 14Nm, which is 1.3PS and 0.7Nm less than the R15 V3.0.

So, where is the GPR 150? Well, we are not going to see that motorcycle on our shores anytime soon. Because in a recent interview, Piaggio’s Managing director Diego Graffi said Aprilia is focusing on the 250-300cc segment instead of the 150cc segment for the Indian audience. Considering Aprilia’s racing heritage, the upcoming motorcycle(s) is likely to have premium underpinnings and could get some segment-first features. Interestingly, Aprilia had unveiled the GPR 250 in China a few months back. 

The segment in which Aprilia is planning to dip its toes consists of motorcycles like the Gixxer 250s, the Honda CB300R, KTM 250 Duke, the Yamaha FZ25 and the Fazer 25. So it won’t be easy for the manufacturer to topple these big names in the sub-300cc segment. For now, the upcoming motorcycle is likely to be in a pre-development stage. However, we can expect Aprilia to at least showcase a pre-production version of the upcoming motorcycle at the Auto Expo.