Hero MotoCorp focused on customer needs, not on a pricing game, says CEO Niranjan Gupta

India's largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp's CEO Niranjan Gupta, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, shed light on the company's strategic direction in the fiercely competitive market. Hero MotoCorp is navigating the challenging terrain of the industry with a clear vision and unwavering commitment.

Gupta began the conversation by emphasizing that Hero MotoCorp is not interested in engaging in a mere pricing game and the company's approach goes beyond simply offering competitive prices. Instead, their primary focus is on understanding and responding to the needs of their customers.

A: As far as premium is concerned, our strategy is to build a full portfolio of premium products. You've seen us launching product after product in rapid time period, we saw Xtreme 160 4V, we saw launching the 200S, we saw X440 Harley Davidson. We've seen Karizma, you will see more actions as you move through the next few quarters.

Clearly, we are extremely serious about this segment. Our aim is to win in this segment. And beyond that, I will not be giving out any numbers but clearly, it's a meaningful market share that we are after.

A: I don't think so. If you look at the demand part of it, all the underlying economic indicators are trending positive. Inflation is largely behind us. If you look at the rate cycle almost peaked. If you look at currency by and large, stable, as far as if you compare with other economies of the world, you see the CAPEX spend over the last three years, government capex is up to the tune of about probably Rs 20 lakh crore. Now, all these capex spend translate into employment income and then spending with a lag period of time. So we are not only optimistic, we are actually sure that the demand at the entry segment is also going to come back.

We've already seen demand translating at the middle and the upper premium segments. So, therefore, it's a question of just percolating it down, and it will soon be back.

A: It's not a question of more products at the entry segment, our portfolio is already strong. If you look at HF Deluxe, if you look at Splendor, if you look at Super Splendor, if you look at Passion, we've got a full portfolio, we've got a bigger portfolio than anyone else in the industry. Equally, what we have learnt is it's not a pricing game. People generally think that at the entry, it's a pricing game. It's not a pricing game. People want to buy if you look at any category, even at entry, the highest-selling model is the highest-priced one. So that means people are not looking for a cheaper price. It's just that you have to make it more accessible. You have to probably make finance more accessible. And then make sure that those customers' need that is there translate into demand.