Will the iconic Karizma brand put Hero MotoCorp on the premium motorcycles map in India?

India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp has placed all its big bets in the premium two-wheeler segment. The Pawan Munjal-led company on Monday re-introduced the Karizma nameplate in the Indian market with its new-gen features and will be known as the Karizma XMR available at the cost of Rs 1.73 lakh. The Karizma XMR is the most premium Hero MotoCorp product in India Today. “Voice of customer for us is the voice of God. This is the third premium model for the company in the last three months. More motorcycles are in the pipeline over next few quarters, as we intend to win big in premium segment,” Niranjan Gupta, CEO, Hero MotoCorp says.  

Gupta adds that the Karizma XMR is aimed at the younger generation. The Karizma nameplate was first launched in 2003 by Hero Honda, however, it was discontinued in 2020. With the Karizma XMR, the iconic bike is all set to make a comeback and Hero expects it to compete well with rivals like the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 and the Suzuki Gixxer SF 250. But the real questions is: Will the iconic Karizma brand help place Hero MotoCorp on the premium motorcycle map in the Indian market?  

The bike comes with a dual projector LED headlamp, raised handlebars, a sport-tourer personality, liquid-cooled engine (a first for a Hero bike) and 6-speed gearbox.

The company has also tied-up with Harley-Davidson and plans to launch newer models after the Harley X440 in July this year. Being the largest, Hero has been struggling to return to pre-pandemic sales volumes. Rural India traditionally accounts for a majority of all two-wheeler sales, especially with the cheaper 100cc offerings, including Hero’s top-selling Splendor motorcycle, making up 70 per cent of the total sales. The cost of entry-level offerings has increased significantly and Hero’s key customer base—the rural market—is yet to see a recovery and volume pickup. Well, its premium bet already seems to be working. Harley-Davidson X440 received 25,000 bookings in about a month.  

The company’s profit for the quarter ended June 30 rose 32 per cent to Rs 825 crore, as the price hike in April helped offset a 2.7 per cent drop in sales volumes to 1.35 million units from a year before. 

But Hero is not alone in ramping up its premium offering. Rival Bajaj Auto has also ramped up its premium segment launches with UK’s Triumph, as both aim to take on market leader Royal Enfield. Not a bad time to be a bike enthusiast, eh?