Hero MotoCorpĀ is gearing up to expand its electric two-wheeler range and upgrading its existing sales infrastructure to enhance premium play as part of its future growth plans, as per its newly appoint CEO Niranjan Gupta.
As Niranjan Gupta said that it would focus on bolstering its presence in the premium segment, expanding the commuter segment and achieving leadership in the electric two-wheeler segment.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āThe way we are to move forward in these three segments, speed will be the name of the game,ā
Niranjan Gupta, who was came as CEO on 1st May 2023.
He was serving as CFO of the company before taking over as the CEO.
In the electric two-wheeler space, Hero MotoCorp plans to introduce new entry-level models in order to cater to a wider set of customers.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āBefore march-end, we will actually go to 100 citiesā¦so up to March, it will be about 100 cities, and then thereafter, in the next four quarters, it will be about putting a product in the middle segment and the bottom segment of the electric scooters,ā.
But now, with the VIDA V1 range, the company is position at the top end as a conscious strategic move, Niranjan Gupta said.
Having establish the brand, it is now time to expand the product range, Niranjan Gupta said.
Replying to a query, Niranjan Gupta noted that the EV startup space has got hugely crowd, and given the regulation changes (drop in subsidy under the FAME scheme), there will be consolidation in the segment.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āWe believe that there will be consolidationā¦and when it happens it will narrow down to fewer players,ā.
Amid the expect consolidation in the market, the company, with its various tie-ups and product plans in place, is well place moving ahead, Niranjan Gupta said.
Besides targeting leadership in the electric two-wheeler space, the Hero MotoCorp also plans to bolster its presence in the premium segment (160-450 cc), Niranjan Gupta said.
He said that the current year is going to witness the introduction of the maximum number of all new premium products compared to any other year in the Hero MotoCorpās history.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āWe are doing two things. One, we are going to upgrade some of our current stores to what we call hero 2.0, which will be a facelift of the current stores and therefore that will include the hardware and software part as well this part of the current stores,ā.
The second element of the physical stores will be to put up some exclusive stores to house premium models.
Hero MotoCorp plans to upgrade 35-40 percent of the 1,000 major dealerships in a phased manner, Niranjan Gupta said.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āSo, a combination of these two will then ensure along with digitalā¦that we provide a different level of retail experience to buyers,ā.
Hero MotoCorp will be focusing on the entire premium spectrum, right from 160 to 450 cc, Niranjan Gupta said.
The Hero MotoCorp would also focus on expanding the commuter bike segment (100-125 cc).
The overall growth of the vertical would eventually help the Hero MotoCorp as it leads the segment with a market share of 65%-70%.
Niranjan Gupta also emphasise putting ādisproportionateā resources into 8-10 international markets to put them on the fast track.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āWe are in 40 plus marketsā¦and what we are going to do is to double down on 8-10 big markets out of those and disproportionately put resources there and therefore move those on a faster track while catering to the rest of the markets as well,ā.
Hero MotoCorp would focus on markets like Mexico, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Colombia etc, Niranjan Gupta said.
Niranjan Gupta said :
āSo, 8-10 of these markets, we are going to double down our efforts,ā.
Hero MotoCorp currently just gets 5% of its revenues from its global business.
