Yamaha and Indian mobility startups

Why read this story?

Editor's note: Two developments made news in the mobility sector this week and somehow, both involved Japanese automaker Yamaha Motor Co. One, where the auto giant led a $6.5 million funding round in a little-known company, CredR; CredR is a second-hand bike platform, just about six years old, and focused entirely on the markets beyond tier-I cities. Two, according to an Entrackr report, Yamaha is in talks to acquire struggling bike and car rental platform Drivezy for about $40 million. And, to top it all, based on my conversations with multiple investors in mobility, Yamaha is also in advanced talks with the two-wheeler ride-hailing startup Rapido for a funding round.  So, the obvious questions to be asked are: Why is Yamaha interested in the Indian mobility market? And why now? Let’s start with the first question.  On the face of it, it may look like that the two-wheeler manufacturer is trying to keep up with the younger consumer base via these startups, which particularly cater to the young demographic— something a lot of conglomerates do. We highlighted that phenomenon when we wrote …