Hero Honda rolls out Hunk

Hero Honda, India's largest two-wheeler maker and leader in the 100cc bike segment, has launched its fourth bike in the premium (150cc+) segment, to boost festive sales.

Named Hunk, the bike comes in the range of Rs 55,000 to Rs 57,000, depending on the two variants - the kick start priced at Rs 55,000 and the self-start at Rs 57,000. The other premium segment bikes from the Hero Honda stable are Achiever, CBZ Xtreme and Karizma.

Hunk faces competition from Bajaj Pulsar, TVS Apache and Honda Unicorn.

Speaking at the launch, Anil Dua, vice president- sales and marketing, Hero Honda, said, "The contribution of the premium bike segment this year has gone up from 10 to 14 per cent. The market is growing and with the new model we will offer good choices to customers."

While the premium bike market has seen a steady increase in growth of about 30-33 per cent in sales, bikes in the 100cc segment have seen a steady decline in growth rate.

While the rising interest rates have affected sales in the entry-level segment, they have not affected sales of bikes in the premium segment.

Even as Hero Honda remains the market leader in the 100cc segment with over 67 per cent share, it is still to catch up with Bajaj, the market leader in the premium segment. While Bajaj has a more than 60 per cent market share, Hero Honda has around 18 per cent.