Hero MotoCorp, India’s number one two wheelers maker has announced a hike in the prices of motorcycles across the range by up to Rs. 1000. The price hike is effective from 2 May 2012 across India at all the authorized sales outlets of Hero MotoCorp. The reason cited behinds the rise in price is the rising input and material cost incurred in manufacturing motorcycles in India. In past few months, Hero MotoCorp is generating whooping 5 Lakh+ sales of two wheelers per month and has a wide variety of motorcycles starting from 100 CC commuters like CD Dawn to high end sporty bikes like Karizma ZMR.
Hero MotoCorp bikes (formerly Hero Honda) are very popular in India because of their low maintenance cost, high mileage and wide sales and service network across India. These motorcycles have well refined engines which deliver good fuel economy without requiring much of overhauling even on prolong use. The increase in price will however put some pressure on sales and we expect the competitors will also increase prices if the prices of one brand has gone up.
image – Hero Karizma for illustration only
In last fiscal – FY 2011-12, Hero MotoCorp sold over 62 lakh two wheelers making a turnover of over Rs. 23,579 crores which is about 21% higher than the previous year. After its split from the Hero Honda Joint venture, Hero MotoCorp has been quite aggressive in promotion, brand building, sales, bringing new products and making new tie-ups. In recent past, Hero MotoCorp joined hands with EBR for collaboration in development of the future sporty products for Hero MotoCorp. Hero MotoCorp has also signed up with AVL for the development of a new engine for their future products. Hero is also aggressively ramping up its R&D capabilities by hiring more and more experienced R&D staff in India to remain self-sufficient in the longer run in India.
At the Auto Expo 2012 in New Delhi India, Hero MotoCorp showcased a concept scooter Leap which is a petrol electric hybrid scooter which company wishes to take to production in the coming years to pioneer in the field as there is no hybrid scooter market in India as of now. There are many players who are making electric scooters and they benefit from Govt. subsidies on electric scooters, but Hybrids are also an eco-friendly way to go forward and Govt. is expected to come out with some final policy announcements on the Hybrid vehicles to encourage their production and sales in the years to come. We will keep you updates, so stay tuned to us for more information and news.
