Xtreme 200R discontinuation is a possibility – Hero has dropped it from its website and while it has promised BS6 variants of Xpulse 200 siblings & Xtreme 200S, there is nothing on the 200R yet…
Auto manufacturers were already busy in transitioning their products to very stringent Bharat Stage 6 emission norms within very short time spans. Then came the challenge to liquidate the BS4 stock as demand fell sharply. Hero appears to be the worst affected during this time. However, it has managed to update most of its high sellers to BS6 already.
Still, a big chunk of models remain to be updated to the new norms and obviously few of the low-sellers will be ditched to save time, energy and resources. In this story let us highlight the curious case of the Xtreme 200R – the motorcycle which started this segment for the company.
Hero had gradually developed its 200 cc portfolio to as many as four motorcycles – all catering to different audience set. It has already revealed the specs of the BS6 Xpulse 200 – the most popular model in the lineup. Hero has also officially confirmed that the BS6 versions of Xtreme 200S and Xpulse 200T are ‘coming soon‘ and they will continue in their older formats apart from a few minor changes here and there. That leaves the Xtreme 200R – the streetfighter in the dark.
On the other side of the spectrum, Hero has already showcased the new-generation Xtreme platform – the first product of which is the Xtreme 160R which has also been showcased (it will be launched soon).
Xtreme 200R Discontinuation Possibility
Now the questions are
- In the presence of the new-gen Xtreme 160R, will Hero continue selling the older 200R which is based on the older platform?
- Or will Hero create more variants of the Xtreme 160R to almost cover the 200R’s audience?
- Or will there be an all-new Xtreme 200R based on the new platform?
Let us try to understand the possibility of these options – co-existence of both the models and whether Hero has space?
The BS4 Xpulse 200 FI was priced at a premium of roughly 8 percent over its carburetor equipped variant – 97K vs 105K! Let us expect the Xpulse 200 FI BS6 to rise upto ~Rs 1.10-1.11 Lakh which will be a near five percent hike (quite sufficient for a fuel injected model).
Days Before Launch Xtreme 160R Updated at Official Website
The Xtreme Sport’s last selling price was around Rs 80-82k. If we consider it as the base price, the newer gen Xtreme 160R should cost between 90k-95k. This means that Hero will have to place three motorcycles between 95k to 1.10 Lakh – the Xpulse 200T, Xtreme 200S and the Xtreme 200R.
2020 Xpulse 200 BS6 Specs Revealed; Power Down; Gets Oil Cooled
With the cheaper, technically advanced and much better looking smaller sibling around, it will not make a lot of sense to continue the 200R in its older guise. I, in fact, think that Hero can create different variants of the 160R with different feature set to encompass a wider reach. It can then hover over to the 1 Lakh mark as well – and still won’t be too costly for the segment.
This is How Hero is Liquidating its Remaining 1.40 Lac BS4 Vehicles
This eliminates the need of working on the new-gen Xtreme 200R completely and there will be less clutter in the portfolio as well. So, there will be a 150-160cc new-generation machine that fights against the motorcycles of its segment – which is what the 200R was supposed to do!
