Hero MotoCorp and Harley Davidson have started the joint product development work on motorcycles that would see Hero enter the bigger engine segment riding on the brand imagery of Harley-Davidson.
Earlier this week both companies announced the setting up of a new business unit that would be tasked to sell Harley-Davidson bikes in India through a network of 11 dealers. The Milwaukee-based Harley ended its sales and manufacturing operations in September in India after mounting losses and falling demand.
For Hero MotoCorp, the country’s biggest two-wheeler maker, the premium segment (150cc and above) will be the area of focus in the coming years after having reached peak market share in the budget motorcycle segment (100cc-110cc).
Niranjan Gupta, chief financial officer, Hero MotoCorp, said, “We will see product action every year in the premium segment. Our partnership with Harley is like icing on the cake because that allows us to get into a segment which would generally be difficult to enter unless you have that retro, heritage brand image. Harley brings in that brand imagery. So, product development on that front has already started. We are accelerating our plans to get into that segment.”
Gupta was talking to analysts to discuss the financial performance of the company for the quarter ended December 2020. As per data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Hero MotoCorp had a share of 6.6 percent in the motorcycle segment with engines more than 150cc but less than 200cc during the nine months ended December 2020.
TVS Motor Company is the market leader in this segment with a share of 35 percent, followed by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India with a share of 30 percent. Bajaj Auto has a share of 16 percent of the same segment.
“Premium is a big focus area. The focus is on building a full portfolio of premium products. We went with 200cc models to create a positioning which would take us into a higher level. We have gone with the 160R which is right in the belly of the market and there will be more action on this. We will cover the entire middleweight section in the next 3-5 years,” Gupta added.
Till date Hero has been criticised for being overdependent on its bread-and-butter, low-power, high-mileage bikes such as the Splendor, Passion and Dawn.
The Delhi-based company commands 65 percent of the budget and executive (125cc) domestic motorcycle segment. Despite being one of the earliest to enter the premium segment with products such as Karizma and CBZ, Hero failed to attract buyers and build its presence in the premium segment.
Hero MotoCorp's rival Bajaj Auto is also stepping on the gas with products not just under the Pulsar brand but also under the KTM and Husqvarna brand. These products will be rolled out progressively this year before launching Triumph bikes in a couple of years.
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