Hero And Harley-Davidson Join Hands To Take On Royal Enfield

It will probably be a long time before the bikes even start reaching dealerships

Last October, Hero MotoCorp announced it would be joining hands with Harley-Davidson in a bid to expand its presence in the premium segment. Now, Hero’s CFO has stated that it will cater to the mid-displacement segment, currently dominated by Royal Enfield.

In a recent interview, Hero’s Niranjan Gupta said, “The key part of the Harley Davidson tie-up is the license to build the middle-weight segment, which is a very profitable segment, and the lead player has a market share of around 90 percent. So, there is this whole thing of developing the bike and putting it out in the market, both under the Harley and Hero name.”

As promising as it sounds, Hero hasn’t made any production motorcycle larger than 250cc. Even Harley, for that matter, hasn’t built small-capacity bikes. The Street 500 (smaller version of the Street 750 previously sold in India) was the last small Harley to be on sale in foreign markets. To take on the might of Royal Enfield, it would have to be truly something special.

Which route would Hero and Harley opt for? Considering Royal Enfield’s popularity in global markets, a mid-displacement twin seems to be the logical solution. However, it remains to be seen whether the combine will stick to Harley’s roots and offer a traditional V-twin (which would be the costlier alternative) or build a parallel-twin. Given Harley’s expertise, we are sure this twin-cylinder bike will be capable of taking on the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and the upcoming Roadster 650 and Shotgun 650 cruisers. 

Another way is to take on the Classic 350 with a large displacement single. The new Meteor 350 and its J-series engine have received a good response in India and across the globe, with many eager to see the new engine on the Classic. Hero and Harley could very well capitalise on the increasing popularity of this segment, which has seen new players like Jawa, Benelli, and even Honda join the fray. Also, one of the bikes birthed by the Bajaj-Triumph JV will be a direct rival to the Classic. Therefore, Hero-Harley cannot overlook the rise of this segment.

The first bike from this partnership will likely arrive only by late-2023 or early-2024. While that sounds like a long wait, Hero will have other exciting offerings coming up till then, like the jointly developed electric scooter with Gogoro and the Dakar racer-derived ADV that we first saw at the Hero World 2020 event.

Source: Moneycontrol