- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
LEADING Indian two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp is in full swing to launch a Harley-Davidson model with retro styling as it looks to make a foray into a very profitable segment in the premium motorcycle space, a senior company official said.
An alliance between Hero and Harley-Davidson fructified in 2020 after the iconic motorcycle maker from the US decided to stop its sales and manufacturing operations in India, a decade after it started its journey in the country.
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“There are two legs to the Harley tie up strategy. One of course is that we are the sales distributors for Harley bikes in India. We have 14 dealers, around 30 touch points, and that is going well. The second part of the strategy is to launch a bike in that retro segment, which is almost one-third of the overall premium segment out of the profit pool,” Hero MotoCorp CFO Niranjan Gupta said in an analyst call.
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“I dare say that the segment probably has around 60 to 70 per cent of the profit pool of the premium segment, so that is the second leg of the strategy, to launch in that segment, and clearly Harley is an iconic brand and the work is going on in full swing on that,” he added.
Gupta said this while responding to a query on the plan ahead for Harley vehicles in India. Last October, Hero MotoCorp and Harley announced a partnership for the Indian market.
Under the licensing pact between the two companies, Hero MotoCorp has taken over the exclusive distribution rights of the Harley motorcycle, parts and merchandise in India after the American maker withdrew from the Indian market.
Earlier in 2021, Hero MotoCorp started the booking process for 13 Harley models that are priced between Rs 10 lakh (£9,926) and Rs 35 lakh (£34,742) (ex-showroom). Around 100 Harley bikes, making up the first batch assigned to the Indian market this year, have been pre-booked.
In early September, Hero MotoCorp started bookings for the next batch of Harley adventure tourer bike ‘Pan America 1250’ after the first lot got sold out.
Hero MotoCorp is optimistic that the tie-up with Harley-Davidson would help it strengthen its presence in the premium bike segment where it aims to set up a complete portfolio cutting across segments and engine capacities.
The company, which is the leader in the budget-bike segment (100-110cc), is also in the process of developing electric two-wheelers for both mass and premium segments.
Gupta said the company’s first electric product would be rolled out by March next year.
