Shuffle in India’s Hero line-up sparks Harley speculation
An action by Harley-Davidson’s India partner has some people speculating on wider ramifications.
Harley-Davidson’s partner in India, Hero MotorCorp, has dumped one of its premium models, setting off an internet debate around what it could all mean.
Hero is one of India’s largest motorcycle companies, producing more than 9 million two-wheelers a year - both under its own name and for other brands. The Hero brand has a reputation for offering low-cost machines, relied upon by budget-conscious riders in India and West Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Recently, the company abruptly pulled the plug on its Mavrick 440 model (although, you can still find mention of it on Hero’s official website). The Mavrick 440 had been an attempt by Hero to offer a more premium machine. The largest-capacity motorcycle offered by the manufacturer, it was built around the same platform that is used for a bike that Hero builds for Harley-Davidson: the X440.
There are all kinds of reasons why Hero might have done this, but some are connecting the dots to Harley-Davidson’s recent announcement that it plans to reveal an affordable entry-level machine this autumn.
In a conference call with investors late last month, current CEO Jochen Zeitz referred multiple times to an upcoming Harley-Davidson Sprint model, suggesting its starting price would be less than US $6,000.
That name has a history for the MoCo. Through the 1960s and early ‘70s, the Harley-Davidson Sprint was a small-capacity motorcycle made for the company by Italy’s Aermacchi. With Harley again planning to use that name - again for an affordable, lower-capacity machine - the assumption by many is that it will again have a foreign manufacturer.
Logically, one turns their attention to Harley’s existing foreign partners and existing small-capacity machines. Hero makes the X440 exclusively for the Indian market, while Chinese manufacturing giant Qianjiang - owner of Benelli, Morbidelli, Keeway, and QJMotor - produces the X350 and X500 models, for Asian markets.
So, perhaps - some people hypothecate - Hero’s abandonment of the Mavrick 440 is a sign that Harley is clearing the path to transform the X440 into the Sprint…
Honestly, though, we doubt it. More likely is that Hero dropped its version because its budget-focused customers aren’t ready for a premium product. Maybe the move helps improve relations with Harley, too.
Either way, I can’t see Harley-Davidson rolling out an air-cooled 440cc single to the global market. Especially one that already exists under a different name. It’s clear that Harley is hoping the Sprint will help reverse years of slow decline; the X440 just isn’t the bike to do that.
Equally, I’m not convinced that the X500 - which, in many ways is just a rebadged Benelli Leoncino 500 - will be the future Sprint, either. Or, maybe that’s why Zeitz is stepping down in October - right at the same time that the Sprint is set to be revealed: he doesn’t want to deal with the inevitable blowback that will come from the Harley faithful.
Certainly it’s the case that incoming CEO Artie Starrs faces a steep uphill climb when he takes over on 1 October. We’ll be looking forward to seeing what he and the company deliver.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
