Middleweight Hero Motorcycle Development Underway

Hero MotoCorp has revealed that development of its middleweight bike, the very first such product from the brand, is currently underway.

As part of a licensing agreement between Hero and Harley-Davidson, the top Indian automaker received the rights to develop and sell a range of premium motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson brand name.

It turns out, Hero will introduce its own version of the premium motorcycles it produces for the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker.

Chief Financial Officer, Hero MotoCorp, Niranjan Gupta, has revealed that the middleweight bike will be put on sale in the market, both under the Harley and Hero name.

Gupta also added that dedicated teams have already started working on the development of both bikes, but did not go into details.

While it is speculated that the motorcycles will be powered by an engine with over 500cc capacity, the possibility of the manufacturers launching a 300-350cc entry-level premium bike cannot be overlooked either.

Interestingly, Hero has never launched an entry-level premium motorcycle with engine capacity over 225cc until now and only has 200cc motorcycles as its flagship machines at present.

However, in December 2020, Hero announced that its partnership with Harley-Davidson will help accelerate its presence in the premium motorcycle segment.

Looks like Hero has 2 primary aims as of now – to poach a decent chunk of sales in the premium motorcycle category from segment leader Royal Enfield which has about 90 percent market share and to improve its profitability.

Currently, the launch timelines of the Hero middleweight bike and its twin from Harley-Davidson are not known. But, of the duo, the bike sold under the Harley brand should have a higher sticker price.

Source – Moneycontrol.com