Honda needs to worry! Hero on hot pursuit to take lead in Indian scooter segment

Activa, the scooter brand from Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India has now become the face of scooters in the country. The company is the king of scooter segment in India with models such as Activa 4G, Dio, Aviator, Activa i, CliQ, in 110 cc and Activa 125 in 125cc. Though the line-up is packed and unchallenged for now, Hero MotoCorp is reportedly readying to conquer the popular domain of Honda.

Once an ally of Honda, Hero MotoCorp is gearing up to launch three new scooter models as part of its strategy to enhance its market share in scooter segment reports ET Auto. Hero will launch new scooter, a 125cc model, in the Q4 of current fiscal followed by two more new models in 2018-19, the report adds.

"Having maintained its leadership in motorcycles, Hero is now looking at further consolidating the pole position with an enhanced focus on premium bike segment and scooters," the publication quoted a source in connection with the development. However, Hero MotoCorp has not revealed any new plans for the scooter segment so far.

Hero MotoCorp currently sells scooter models like Maestro Edge and Duet (both 110cc) and the Pleasure (100cc). While the company still retains the lead position in domestic motorcycle market with over 50 percent share even after six years of separation from Honda, the scooter segment for Hero is yet to turn around. Hero has just over 12 percent share and the company is lagging behind Honda (nearly 60 percent share) and TVS Motor Company (over 15 percent share) also.

Hero's move comes days after Honda has revealed its plan to take over numero uno position in the Indian two-wheeler market from the former. According to Honda's Chief Officer Regional Operations (Asia and Oceania) Shinji Aoyama, his company will have a competitive advantage over its rivals when India adopts the stringent BS-VI emission norms. "Year 2020 can be a possible year to become number one," Aoyama said.