Hero vs Yamaha – This has been a fight that has been going on for quite some time in the scooter space. Can Hero save itself from falling to the bottom?
Yamaha has been nagging Hero for that fourth spot in scooter sales in the recent times. I have reported about this earlier as well. However, somehow Hero managed to save the grace last financial year.
Flip to the new fiscal and Yamaha has beaten Hero in ICE scooter sales in the month of May 2024. The Jap sold 24,795 units of its scooters whereas Hero dipped to a low of 21,166 ICE scooters in the month. This means that Yamaha outsold Hero by 3629 units – and snatched that fourth spot at least for the month of May.
This is a big change in the scooter segment as despite all its efforts (and being the maker with the largest dealership coverage in the country) Hero has simply not been able to garner a major footprint in this genre of 2-wheelers. For some reason its scooters have not been appealing customers and this is after the fact that the company has tried various sub-brands and formats.
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In the overall sales for this fiscal (ie April and May) though, Hero is slightly ahead of Yamaha but just by a whisker. Considering the fact that Hero is falling (or at best flat) and Yamaha is growing, this could be the transition year where we may see a new permanent number four in scooters. If Hero actually gets pushed to the fifth spot – essentially the last spot among key ICE scooter manufacturers in India, it may be a morale downer for the company.
The good thing is that the Hero is trying and has plethora of products lined-up in this space. We recently got a glimpse of the 2024 Destini which looks a very good upgrade. Then the big Xoom 160 is on the anvil along with a few other models. Interesting times to watch when these biggies fight for a pie of the 2-wheeler space…