Harley X440 sales have remained consistent since its dispatches began, but Hero’s 150-200cc segment sales saw a sharp decline in Dec 2024..
No doubt that Hero is trying really hard in the premium segment and it is desperate to make a mark here. It has introduced some interesting motorcycles as well like the Xpulse 200 and the Xtreme 160R. But unfortunately, for some reason, after gaining some initial traction, the company has consistently been falling in the 150-200cc segment, as we have reported earlier.
In the month of December 2023, Hero’s sales fell drastically to only 1841 units in the premium segment (Karizma excluding) in which it has as many as four motorcycles (Xpulse 200T, Xpulse 200, Xtreme 200S and Xtreme 160R). The portfolio also includes the 4 valve version of the Xtreme 160R that is being heavily promoted by Hero. This means that with as many as four different motorcycles – all catering to different tastes, Hero managed under 2000 unit sales.
Now let us bring the American motorcycling giant Harley Davidson’s X440 to the equation – that costs fair bit higher than all the Heros we discussed above (but it is also entirely made in India by Hero itself). In comparison, the newly introduced roadster saw total dispatches of 2189 units in the month of Dec 2023 – 348 units more than the entire Hero’s established premium portfolio (150-200cc segment). We are not talking about other motorcycles in this price segment of Rs 1.5-2 Lakh, as they sell much more than Hero.
In the last quarter, Hero registered total dispatches of 13,007 units of its 150-200s, averaging about 4300 units a month. This puts it just ahead of the niche seller Kawasaki W175 and Suzuki Gixxers. The KTMs, the Pulsars, the Hondas and the Yamahas – all sell a lot more than Hero in this price range (and segment).
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The consistent fall in sales in the last quarter could be attributed to the year ending scenario where Hero may have wanted to curb inventories at dealerships and dispatches of all these motorcycles may increase from January 2024 onwards.
The new Karizma has shown some promise and the full faired model has registered total sales of 2953 units since September. It will be interesting to see at what levels does the segment’s most powerful motorcycle settle at. With Hero bringing in the Mavrick 440 on 23rd January and another speculated premium motorcycle in the 125cc space soon, it will be very interesting to see how things pan up…
