Hero MotoCorp on Monday unveiled an organisational overhaul to accelerate its premium motorcycle business, appointing a dedicated chief business officer and promising a wider product portfolio, exclusive retail experiences and stronger community engagement, even as sales of several of its own premium motorcycles have remained weak and one flagship model has quietly disappeared from the market.
The country’s largest two-wheeler maker named Anuj Dua as Chief Business Officer – Premium Segment, creating a dedicated leadership role to steer its premium business. Dua is an industry veteran with deep leadership experience across Hero MotoCorp, Royal Enfield, and Bajaj Auto, Anuj brings a proven track record in global product planning & strategy, brand building, and market expansion.
The company said the new vertical would drive portfolio expansion, strategic partnerships, exclusive retail experiences and rider engagement, underscoring premiumisation as a key growth pillar.
“The global mobility landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, led by rising consumer aspirations for premiumization including curated premium experiences. At Hero MotoCorp, we are responding to these transformative shifts with a future-focused strategy that combines innovation, design excellence, performance engineering and deeper customer engagement,,” said Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp.
The move comes as Hero seeks to strengthen its position in the country’s fast-growing premium motorcycle market, where rivals have built strong brand identities and loyal customer communities.
Hero has also expanded its exclusive Hero Premia retail network to more than 130 outlets across the country and reiterated plans to introduce more premium motorcycles under both the Hero and Harley-Davidson brands.
However, the aggressive push comes against the backdrop of a mixed report card for Hero’s current premium offerings.
The most notable setback has been the Mavrick 440, Hero’s flagship 440-cc motorcycle developed alongside Harley-Davidson. The model has been quietly removed from the company’s website and discontinued after sales collapsed.
The contrast with the Harley-Davidson X440 — built on the same platform and sold through the same Hero Premia dealerships — has been stark. The Harley model recorded healthy growth during FY26, suggesting buyers were willing to pay for the product but preferred the Harley-Davidson badge over Hero’s own branding.
However, the company said that it continued to strengthen its premium portfolio during FY’26 with the launch of multiple new products across motorcycles and scooters, including the Glamour X, Xtreme 125R, Xtreme 250R, Xoom 160, XPulse 210 and the Harley-Davidson X440 T.
However, Hero has also struggled to build sustained demand for several other premium motorcycles. Sales of the Karizma XMR declined sharply in FY26 before falling to negligible levels in the first quarter of FY27. The recently launched Xtreme 250R, despite an encouraging initial response, has also seen volumes moderate.
Hero’s latest announcement appears to acknowledge that selling premium motorcycles requires more than launching larger-capacity models.
The company is now betting on dedicated leadership, premium retail formats, riding communities, merchandise, connected technologies, over-the-air software updates and learnings from its motorsport programme to build a stronger premium ecosystem.