Hero has commenced production of the Dash scooter that is all set to rival the market leader Honda Activa. The Dash is being produced at the company’s Gurgaon plant.
Hero MotoCorp has started manufacturing the new Dash scooter at its production facility in Gurgaon. The scooter was first showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo and the company had stated that it will come with a new engine. The Hero Dash will be competing directly with the Honda Activa. Now, the Activa is a best-seller in its segment and it would take only a very capable product to give a tough fight to this scooter. The Hero Dash will come powered by a 111cc engine which is a four-stroke, force air-cooled, single-cylinder unit that generates a maximum power output of 8.5 BHP. The Activa comes with a 109.2cc engine that churns out 8 BHP of power.
The Hero Dash comes loaded with features like telescopic front forks, rear monoshock, tail-mounted fuel lid, side-stand indicator, service due indicator, USB mobile charger, key with e-code, boot light, LED tail light and dual tone mirrors. Many of these features are generally not offered by rivals competing in this segment and hence Hero will have an upper hand. The Hero Dash is currently undergoing some testing and the company has shut the Maestro production line to produce the Dash for now. Before launching the scooter, the company is aiming to build up a sizeable inventory to tackle the initial demand that the scooter will generate.
The Hero Maestro also sells in decent numbers every month and brings in sales of approximately 45,000 units. So once the Dash gets launched, Hero will have two scooters in the 110cc range to rival the Honda Activa. Hero continues to pay royalty to Honda for the Maestro apart from the Passion xPro and Ignitor bikes. The company will keep paying royalty until 2017 unless any of the product gets discontinued. Hero will sell the Dash and Maestro side-by-side for sometime but once the former becomes a known name in the market, Hero might consider phasing the Maestro out.
Source – AutocarPro.in