Two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp Ltd said it will launch its Maestro Edge 125 model and XPulse models by this month.
The company produces scooter models such as Destini 125, Duet, Maestro Edge and Pleasure. Close to 10% of its total sales are from scooters.
The Hero Maestro will now join the Destini 125 in the Indian market to compete in the 125 cc segment.
The Destini 125, which is pitched as India’s most affordable 125 cc scooter, was launched in October last year. While Destini 125 was positioned as a family scooter, the Maestro Edge 125 will be targeted to young buyers.
The Maestro Edge 125 would arrive in two variants – steel and alloy wheels.
Standard features on the Maestro Edge 125 would include external fuel-filler cap, semi-digital instrument cluster with service due indicator, and dual-tone mirrors. The premium variant would receive boot light and a USB charging port.
The two-wheeler manufacturer will also launch two new models of bikes -XPulse 200 and XPulse 200T (Tourer) by this month.
Both XPulse 200 and XPulse 200T will get the same engine as the Hero Xtreme 200R.
Launched last year, Hero Xtreme 200R gets a 199.6 cc, air cooled, 4-stroke, 2-valve, single-cylinder engine that produces 18.3 hp and 17.1 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a 5-speed constant mesh gearbox.
Talking about the two new launches, Niranjan Gupta, Chief Financial Officer, Hero MotoCorp said, “We expect a tale of two halves in FY 2020. While we expect a sluggish growth in the first quarter of FY 2020, it will pick up pace in the subsequent quarters due to the new launches”.
However, the two-wheeler manufacturer did not reveal much on its BS-VI products.
“We are on track on meeting the BS-VI norms for 2020. We are confident that all our models will transition successfully to BS-VI”, said Hero MotoCorp.
BS or Bharat Stage refers to emission regulation standards set by Indian regulatory bodies.
The higher the number gets, the stricter the emission norms get which eventually means it becomes trickier and costlier for automakers to meet them.
These emission standards were set by the central government to keep a check on the pollutant levels emitted by vehicles that use combustion engines. To bring them into force, the Central Pollution Control Board sets timelines and standards which have to be followed by automakers.
BS norms are largely similar to the European emission norms followed globally.
Hero MotoCorp reported a revenue of Rs 7,884 crore in fourth quarter of FY 2019, a decline of 7.92% from the Rs 8,564 crore reported in the same quarter last year. It sold 17.81 lakh units during the quarter, down 11% from the 20 lakh units it sold in the previous quarter.
Hero MotoCorp, formerly known as Hero Honda, is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. Headquartered in New Delhi, the company claims to have a market share of over 46% in the two-wheeler segment in India.
Hero MotoCorp has five manufacturing facilities based at Dharuhera, Gurgaon, Neemrana, Haridwar and Halol. These plants together have a production capacity of over 76 lakh units of two wheelers per year.