Hero Vs Honda: The Race Gets Closer

A little over six years after the erstwhile partners split, the battle between Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has entered a critical stage in the Indian market, with the sales gap between the two-wheeler industry leaders narrowing to a record low in April 2017.

The story of Hero and Honda, the two major players in the twowheeler industry in India, continues to enthrall industry watchers. The partnership which began in 1984 and ended in 2010 is now poised in a critical phase. The friends turned foes are entrenched in a no-holds-barred battle. In April 2017, their sales numbers were separated by 33,923 units, the closest they have ever come. While Hero MotoCorp sold 585,655 units with a 35 percent share of the twowheeler market, HMSI was close behind with 551,732 units and a 33 percent market share. The No. 3 player, TVS Motor Co is way behind with 12.3 percent.

It may be recollected that at the time of the split in December 2010, the Cassandras had predicted the fall of Hero MotoCorp mainly due to the challenge of brand positioning and the absence of indigenous technology and R&D. And the fact that Honda would roll out a flurry of fuelefficient 100cc commuter motorcycles, hitting Hero where it would hurt most – fuel efficiency.

However, in the years following the amicable parting of ways, Hero MotoCorp has taken the challenge on its chin and delivered in spades – both on the brand positioning front as well as the technology front. In fact, the home-grown company is driving a new R&D paradigm with its state-ofthe-art Global Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Kukas, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Hero MotoCorp’s aggressive posturing clearly meant that Honda did not have as smooth a run as it felt it could have had. In fact, the company, which had declared its goal to be India’s No. 1 twowheeler player by 2016, was compelled to revise its target to the year 2020.