Vespa Scooters

The iconic Vespa brand, owned by Piaggio, has been around for the past 76 years now. Born in 1946 in Florence, Italy, the Vespa was originally meant to provide economical and practical mobility to the masses post-World War 2. It was only in the 1950s, when the scooter got a starring role in the Hollywood hit movie, The Roman Holiday, that it quickly came to embody style and elegance on two-wheels around the world. 

The Vespa brand was officially launched in India back in 2012 with the LX125. But this wasn’t the first time the famous wasp-shaped scooter was sold in the country. Back in the 1960s and 70s, Piaggio had a tie-up with Bajaj Auto to make and sell re-badged Vespas in India. After that, in 1990, Piaggio partnered with the Lohia Group to make the LML Vespa in the country, but unfortunately that partnership ended in 1999. So it was then some 13 years later that the Italian company set up its own Indian manufacturing facility in Baramati, near Pune, and started producing various models for the Indian market.

At the moment, Vespa offers a handful of scooters with a couple of engine options - the ZX in 125cc, the SXL, VXL and Racing Sixties - with both 125cc and 150cc engine and the Elegante, which only comes with the 150cc motor. All these models are offered in a variety of bright colours and retain their classic design, which really makes them stand out from other scooters in the Indian market. A couple of years ago, it was established that Piaggio was working on an electric Vespa, specifically made for, and in, India. But the pandemic seems to have pushed those plans ahead by a few years.