Hero HF Deluxe defy rural slowdown to clock a million unit sales in FY’15

NEW DELHI: Hero MotoCorp’s HF Deluxe - a sturdy, fuel-efficient motorcycle for rural markets -- has bucked the trend of a slowing economy by posting about 5 pe cent growth till the year ending March 2015, and crossing the milestone of million units in sales during the year.

HF Deluxe has become the third Hero MotoCorp bike to clock annual sales of a million units, joining more illustrious models such as Hero Splendor and Hero Passion.

The Splendor, world’s largest-selling motorcycle brand, as well as Passion have been million-unit brands for years now. While the Splendor brand sold over 2.5 million units in FY’15, Passion sold about 1.5 million units during the year.

According to data available with Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Hero HF Deluxe sold over 10.93 lakh units in the financial year ending March 31, 2015.

“HF Deluxe has remained the most popular entry-level bike in the country for a long time, and it is no surprise that it has clocked over a million units in both dispatch and retail sales this year. Every second bike sold in this segment is now an HF Deluxe, with its market share in excess of as much as 70% in states such as Odisha and Chhatisgarh,” a top Hero MotoCorp official told ET.

The official further added that with its sharp positioning as a bike meant for people who drive new India, the tagline ‘Naye Indian ki Deluxe Bike’ has really caught the fancy of customers across the country, thus driving large volumes for HF Deluxe.

In FY’15, the HF series - which includes HF Deluxe, HF Dawn and their erstwhile avatars CD Dawn and CD Deluxe - crossed the 10-million unit mark in cumulative sales since the launch of these brands.

Hero MotoCorp, the country’s largest two-wheeler maker by volume, surpassed over 60 million units in cumulative sales last year.