Zest for Girls: Scooty Zest

We ride the new big small TVS Scooty Zest 110

Story: Piyush Sonsale
Photography: Rommel Alburquerque

The TVS Scooty was launched in 1993 as an entry-level automatic scooter for women. It soon became the preferred mode of personal transport for young girls owing to its compact size, light weight and ease of riding. Today it’s a household name in India and TVS have sold more than 40 lakh units over the last two decades. It became a brand over time as more scooters were launched under the name, the most recent ones being the Pep+ and Streak, powered by an 88-cc four-stroke engine.

The Scooty brand is as strong as ever – the Pep+ and Streak achieve a combined sales figure of about 60,000 units per month, in spite of being nine and five years old respectively. So the folk at TVS decided to expand the brand further to boost their market share in the fast-growing scooter segment. The popular 110-cc class was chosen because they already have a proven engine doing duty in the Wego and the Jupiter. And while the Jupiter is a scooter for men and the Wego is unisex, they lacked a women-only scooter. Thus was born the Scooty Zest 110.

First shown at the Auto Expo 2014, the Zest can be identified as a Scooty, for the design, though evolutionary, has a fresh styling with crisp new lines and feels premium due to the superior fit-and-finish. Small elements such as the black panel below the headlamp, smooth plastic around the switchgear, pattern on the floorboard mat, dual white stitching on the seat, and black coloured wheels and engine endow the Zest with a trendy and youthful appeal. It has attractive stickering and comes in five metallic colours that draw attention. Headlamp cowling and the integrated front apron and fender give it the familiar Scooty face while the side and tail section are all-new. It has arrow-shaped turn indicators on the front apron with integrated pilot lamps while the attractive rear end has a LED tail-lamp. Mirrors are shaped like a leaf and the meter console has a white background for the analogue gauges, with yellow backlight for visibility at night.