Hero MotoCorp mulls world's least priced motorcycle?

A motorcycle price war in the early part of the noughties saw Hero Honda (Hero MotoCorp now) and Bajaj Auto slugging it out to price their entry level products such as the CD Dawn and the Boxer, close to the 30,000 rupee mark. Back in the day, Bajaj even launched a low cost motorcycle called the BYK, which was the least priced motorcycle in the Indian two wheeler market.

Eventually, both Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto moved away from the price war and began looking at offering more value than merely the lowest price point. History could repeat itself in the coming years with yet another price war, this time with Hero MotoCorp and Yamaha battling it out for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. 

Hero MotoCorp's Pawan Munjal, speaking to FinancialExpress, has stated that his company is working with a technology partner to develop a "low cost bike" and that such a project is on the drawing board. The interesting bit about this development is that Mr Munjal likened Hero MotoCorp's low cost motorcycle to the Tata Nano, which happens to be the world's least priced car. 

This gives rise to the possibility that the low cost bike from Hero MotoCorp could be the world's least priced motorcycle. Hero MotoCorp, with its high quality manufacturing set up, well oiled distribution network and extensive vendor base does seem well poised to pull off a feat such as this. 

Yamaha, a Japanese two wheeler behemoth that operates in the Indian market has also expressed interest in the low cost motorcycle segment. According to a report on NDTVProfit, Yamaha has stated that it intends to launch a sub-30,000 rupee motorcycle in India.

The cut price Yamaha motorcycle is poised to be sold in India and other emerging two wheeler markets such as Africa and Latin America, as the Japanese two wheeler giant has plans of making India an export hub. On another side of the commuter motorcycle market, Bajaj Auto is taking a completely different approach by adding technology to 100cc motorcycles. 

One such example is the Bajaj Discover 100T, a motorcycle with a four valve head and features that won't be out of place in motorcycles that are positioned a segment or two higher. As a result, the Discover 100T is the most expensive 100cc motorcycle in India. 

Bajaj's game plan with the Discover 100T is based on the belief that the Indian motorcycle buyer is ready to fork out extra money for a feature and technology packed 100cc commuter motorcycle. The coming years will determine which approach actually works in the price and brand conscious commuter motorcycle segment in India.