NEW DELHI: Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler maker, on Thursday unveiled three new bikes — the Super Splendor, Passion Pro and Passion XPro. The new models, whose engines are indigenously developed by Hero, will be launched in a phased manner starting from January 2018. The launches are also seen as the company’s effort to increase its market share in the commuter segment, which has shown a sign of improvement in the past two quarters.
“With the launch of new Passion PRO, Passion XPRO and Super Splendor, we are aiming to further consolidate our leadership in the 100-125cc segments,” said Hero MotoCorp’s head of global product planning, Malo Le Masson. After witnessing a fall in sales for a few months due to the note-ban, the commuter segment registered growth month-on-month in the past seven month, aided by strong rural demand.
Hero saw its sales in the segment grow 10 per cent at 3,299,849 units during April-October, eclipsing the overall segment growth of 7 per cent at 4,489,912 units in the same period.
The new bikes will also help Hero take on its archrival Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI)’s aggressive approach in the two-wheeler segment. HMSI recently claimed to be the largest seller of two-wheelers in 17 markets in the country, which account for 52 per cent of the industry’s total sales. HMSI has been consolidating its motorcycle business to catch up with its former partner.
However, Hero MotoCorp is way ahead of HMSI when it comes to motorcycle sales and the new launches are expected to boost its market leader status. Hero commands over 50 per cent share in the domestic motorcycle market and has registered six lakh-plus sales for the seventh consecutive month this fiscal.