The India arm of Italian two-wheeler maker Piaggio has announced its plans to launch the country's most expensive scooter before June this year.

Pune-based Piaggio Vehicles announced that it would sell the most-expensive scooter under the Vespa brand, and with a whopping price tag of around Rs 8-9 lakh.

Branded as the Vespa 946, the automatic scooter will be imported from Europe as a completely built unit. The homologation of the new scooter has already been done and it will likely be launched in the next 2-3 months.

Ravi Chopra, chairman & managing director of Piaggio Vehicles, said, "The homologation of the Vespa 946 has been done and we would launch it in two to three months. This is a very niche product and is positioned as a collector's edition."

The ultra-premium position of the Vespa 946 would be ground-breaking for countries like India where scooters are seen as just a utility product. The increasing demand for scooters has improved the overall performance of the country's two-wheeler segment, which recorded sales of nearly three million units in the April-January period, as against sales of 2.4 million units in the corresponding period a year ago.

The heavy price-tag puts the Vespa 946 on a par with a number of imported superbikes from manufacturers like Honda, Triumph and Harley-Davidson. To put the upcoming Vespa's price tag in perspective, one can purchase nearly eighteen Honda Activas or three Maruti Alto cars.