Why Hero MotoCorp Should Worry

The country's leader in the two-wheeler segment, Hero Motocorp, has a few reasons to worry about in the second quarter of this year. Having already posted record sales last year, Hero Motocorp has its hands full as its competition in India looks to get their share of the attention.

With manufacturers like Honda, TVS, Bajaj, Yamaha getting into the groove to launch some new products, we take a look at what they have to offer and what Hero Motocorp has to look out for.

Let's start with Honda. At its 13th Annual business meet in Japan, HMSI announced its business plan for the 2014-15 and said that they would add two more motorcycles to its portfolio. While one will add to its Dream series line-up, the other is expected to be a 160cc motorcycle which will be targeted at the youth.

TVS too has some interesting things up its sleeve. Having already launched the Star City+, to take on the likes of the Splendor, the company plans to make an even stronger statement by launching the new Victor and the Apache in the 2nd quarter of this year.

Bajaj will further strengthen its portfolio with one more addition to the Discover series and the more successful Pulsar range which will hit the Indian markets this festive season.

Yamaha too is gearing up for a crazy line-up and it is likely to be the 250cc powered YZF-R25 that will take on the Honda CBR250R, Ninja 300 and also Hero HX250R.

The battle will continue in the scooter segment as well with the Honda Activa 125, whose market response is yet to be seen. Hero did launch the New Pleasure 'facelift' last month and TVS Jupiter also has made an impressive debut. TVS is expected to bring out the Scooty Zest next month and that will make things interesting. Hero Motocorp has its hands full and it will be a closely fought battle for top place this year.