Hero MotoCorp aims to strengthen leadership with new launches, electric scooter sales

Hero MotoCorp, the number one two-wheeler manufacturer in terms of production volume and sales numbers in India, is confident of further strengthening its leadership position in the country's two-wheeler market in FY27. The homegrown two-wheeler giant is expecting to register a double-digit growth in the current financial year. To achieve this target, Hero MotoCorp is betting big on new product launches. Also, the company is expecting to see a surge in its scooter sales, which would be instrumental in helping the brand achieve its target.

Hero MotoCorp CEO Harshavardhan Chitale has said that the company is expecting to launch more than 12 new products in the Indian market in FY27. In an interaction with PTI, Chitale said that the company has witnessed strong demand for both ICE and electric scooters of the brand. Hero MotoCorp CEO also said that the OEM sees the scooter sales spike as a growth vector for the company and expects more than 50% of its overall scooters to be electric by 2030.

Scooters are growth vectors for Hero MotoCorp

Highlighting scooters as a growth vector for Hero MotoCorp, Chitale said the company is doubling capacity for the Hero Xoom scooter, while it has completed 50% capacity expansion for Hero Destini. He also said that by the end of May 2026, Hero MotoCorp would be able to increase the capacity for Vida by 50% and be on track to further double it by the end of CY2026, almost three times from the start of the year. Chitale said that this rapid capacity expansion is to ensure that this entire demand momentum that the OEM sees, both for its ICE scooters as well as electric scooters, is met. The company has earmarked ₹1,500 crore capex for FY27 to double its scooter production capacity.

Speaking of the low-emission powertrains emerging as a trend across the industry, the top official said that Hero MotoCorp is also working on a variety of options to stay ahead of the curve as a market leader. "So far we are leading, and we hope we continue to do so going forward," he said when asked if Hero MotoCorp is ready to defend its leadership position as competition intensifies in the Indian two-wheeler market. "We will stay focused on doing what's right for the customer. We stay focused on offering the most efficient, safest products. We have a great momentum so far. I can't talk about others, but I can talk about confidence in our channel, our products," he added.

Hero MotoCorp confident of holding apex position amid tough competition

The competition in the two-wheeler market has been intensifying for Hero MotoCorp, both in the ICE and EV segments. Noting that competition is definitely intense, Chitale said that from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data, it appears that Hero MotoCorp's lead over its competitors has again widened in FY26. "While it had kept coming down, narrowing over six-seven years, and the lead had shrunk, in FY26 again the curve turned, and again marginally the lead widened."

He added that Hero MotoCorp is widening the gap to competitors on the back of growth that the company is driving in categories such as scooters in both ICE and electric, motorcycles in 125 cc and above categories, while also continuing to push entry-level commuter motorcycles.

According to the SIAM data, Hero MotoCorp sold 54,93,178 motorcycles and 572,870 scooters in FY26. Rival Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd sold 25,89,985 motorcycles and 31,62,067 scooters in FY26.

FY27 growth outlook

Speaking about the growth outlook for FY27, Chitale said that, looking at the momentum and some of the categories in which Hero MotoCorp is driving growth, the company expects to continue its momentum of double-digit growth that the brand had in FY26 to continue in FY27 as well. He also added that this projected growth will come on the back of strong growth in exports, strong growth in EVs, and very strong growth in scooters.

Speaking about the new product launches, he said, “Typically, in a year, we have 10 to 12 big launches, new models... this year also we have a very active pipeline... it may be a little more, maybe even more than that." Besides that, he also said, in a year there are refreshes of existing models, which takes the OEM's number of launches in a year typically to 40-50.

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