The middleweight segment, particularly in India, is the one that starts from 350 cc and goes on till 650-700 cc. It has proved to be lucrative and is currently dominated by Royal Enfield. In India and possibly across a large part of the globe as well! Which is why, Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer by volumes, is keen on entering this segment. Or so a report from Moneycontrol suggests. With Hero and Harley-Davidson announcing a partnership in October 2020 for India operations, the Indian OEM had plans to develop 500 cc motorcycles for Harley and now, it would like to have the same motorcycles in its portfolio as well. If that were to indeed happen, then it would mark the first instance of Hero having a motorcycle, or two, in its portfolio, displacing above 225 cc (Read Karizma).
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(The Hero Karizma ZMR was the last 200 cc plus motorcycle made by Hero)
Speaking about the same, Niranjan Gupta, chief financial officer, Hero MotoCorp said, "The key part of the Harley Davidson tie-up is the license to build the middle-weight segment, which is a very profitable segment, and the lead player has a market share of around 90 percent. So, there is this whole thing of developing the bike and putting it out in the market, both under the Harley and Hero name."
(Hero MotoCorp Partnered With Harley-Davidson to run the US-based company's India operations in October 2020)
Of course, there is no clear timeline on the launch of these motorcycles, but Gupta said that teams at Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson have already started working on the development of such models. It is likely that these motorcycles will be manufactured with a brand new platform. With Bajaj Auto partnering up with Triumph Motorcycles and already having KTM and Husqvarna brands under it and TVS partnering with BMW Motorrad, Hero MotoCorp was the one last Indian two-wheeler manufacturer who hadn't struck a partnership with a premium two-wheeler manufacturer at a global level. Royal Enfield of course, is a different story altogether.
Also Read: Harley-Davidson Offering Discounts On Select Models
(Royal Enfield leads the market in the middleweight segment in India)
Another viewpoint could be that Hero as a company may look to increase its margins on units sold. A presence in a premium segment is likely to increase Hero's margins as well. For example, Hero sales volumes are roughly the one and a half time of what Bajaj Auto sells but the company's profits is just one-third of what Bajaj makes. A key reason for the same is that margins on units sold. Bajaj is said to earn twice the profit margin on the Pulsar range as opposed to Hero earning on the Splendor range.
Source: Moneycontrol
