The first motorcycle from the Hero-Harley partnership will see the light by the end of next financial year; will be sold through each brand’s separate dealerships
Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson are planning to enter the middleweight motorcycle segment in the Indian market taking advantage of the mutually beneficial partnership signed a couple of years ago. Targetting the 350 cc to 850 cc space, the first motorcycle from the alliance will be launched by the end of the 2023-24 Financial Year.
It will be sold through each brand’s separate dealerships and it will harbinger a range of new models to come according to a report that surfaced on the internet. Niranjan Gupta, chief financial officer, Hero MotoCorp, said at an investor call that over the next twenty four months timeframe, motorcycles in the “volume and profitable segments of the premium” end will come alive.
The world’s largest two-wheeler producer and the famed American high-end motorcycle manufacturer are developing a platform together. It is expected to be modular in nature to adopt different powertrains and body styles to suit a variety of customers across different price ranges. It has been said that Hero and HD are in the advanced stages of developing the “midweight category premium motorcycle”.
The two-wheeler, especially, motorcycle prices have skyrocketed in recent years due to various reasons and more buyers (even first-time ones) are opting to go with models in the above Rs. 1.5 lakh range. Resultantly, we have witnessed the 250 cc to 650 cc segments expand rapidly as manufacturers are bringing in new motorcycles to address requirements.
The upcoming motorcycle will become Harley-Davidson’s most affordable in India as it could aim for volume sales to take on Royal Enfield. Previously, the Milwaukee-based brand sold the Street 750 and the Street Rod in India as its least expensive offerings but currently, the Iron 883 costing around Rs. 12 lakh (ex-showroom) sits at the bottom of the brand’s portfolio in India.
With Bajaj and Triumph partnership expected to introduce their first co-developed motorcycle sometime next year, interesting times are ahead for the middleweight segment. As for Hero, it recently announced the Vida V1 scooter and is currently working on a 300-400 cc Xpulse and a fully faired motorcycle of the same capacity.