The sales fall for the Karizma twins and the delay of the HX250R has made Hero MotoCorp shift its focus back on the Karizma that will get revised later this year.
You read it first on MotorBeam. The Karizma was always a good product with a decent engine, good design language and healthy performance levels. But, then EBR happened to Hero MotoCorp who took the popular selling entry-level performance motorcycle and dashed it up with an ungodly styling which seemed to have taken inspiration from the ‘Aliens’ movie series. The impact has been such that the Karizma in today’s time has lost its sheen, especially since other manufacturers have moved on to scale new heights with better products. Sure the Karizma update was more of a stop-gap measure till the HX250R came out, but with the latter delayed, the automaker needs to focus back on its flagship product.
And that is exactly what Hero MotoCorp plans to do for the remainder of the year. In a recent post, we spoke about how the Karizma has been doing poor numbers on the sales front (dropped from 3000+ units being done every month by the pre-facelift models) and needs a desperate revision. Well, the Indian auto giant is thinking on the same lines and is readying up an updated Karizma R that will hit the market later this year. The Splendor maker has been in touch with its dealerships and is conducting surveys to know if they wanted the old Karizma R back.
Given this development, we expect to see a lot more toned down styling on the facelifted Hero Karizma R and ZMR models while the powertrain can also see some upgrades to keep it more relevant against the competition. The radically new (for the lack of a better word) Karizma R and ZMR were first introduced in late 2013 and subjected to instant criticism. For April 2015, Hero sold 507 units of the Karizma twins in the Indian market, exporting 280 units. Sales for March and February this year have been lesser at 10 units and 421 units respectively. In contrast, Bajaj sold 4674 units of the Pulsar 220 in the same segment.
The move comes in the wake of a host of changes that Hero and its partners have gone through in recent months. The manufacturer’s technical partner EBR announced bankruptcy in April this year, leaving the fate of a host of upcoming projects uncertain. Most affected of the lot has been the HX250R that looks promising from the showcase last year. With the HX250R’s launch now delayed to the first quarter of 2016, Hero has gone back to the drawing board with the Karizma twins that still enjoy a good brand image despite the drop in sales.
