In a major development at succession planning, Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest maker of two-wheelers, elevated Niranjan Gupta, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and head, strategy and M&A, as the CEO, the company said in a statement. Gupta has been with the company for six years.

Pawan Munjal, current CEO and chairman of Hero MotoCorp, will continue as executive chairman and whole-time director on the board. "Niranjan's sharp focus has helped Hero MotoCorp in delivering strong cash flow over the years, while ensuring judicious capital allocation," says Munjal on the development.

Gupta has played a key role in shaping the financial health of the company by navigating it through a highly competitive and ever-evolving environment. He has also played a significant role in forging key partnerships with global brands such as Harley Davidson and Zero Motorcycles.

The company also says that it will announce a new CFO in due time. "The journey hereon is going to be even more exciting with focus on global expansion, premium segment, and electric mobility," says Gupta, who also serves as a Director on the Board of Ather Energy, HMC MM Auto Private Limited, and HMCL Colombia.

Gupta's appointment comes at a time when erstwhile partner Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) is close on the heels of Hero MotoCorp. In fact, HMSI has even dethroned Hero MotoCorp in monthly sales on multiple occasions. The company has also announced a price hike—the second time in a span of four months—of 2% on its select scooters and motorcycles, which has been necessitated mainly due to cost increases on account of the transition to OBD-2 norms.

Last year, Hero MotoCorp also announced its much awaited foray into the electric scooter segment, with the launch of the Vida brand. Although priced towards the upper end of the premium electric scooter segment, it is not looking to generate large volumes for its first set of scooters. "Yes, we have launched a premium product, but this is not the last product that we intend to launch. It also does not mean that we will only launch a product in this price range," said Munjal at the launch of the scooters.

Meanwhile, HMSI has unveiled its extensive roadmap of its foray into electric vehicles—wherein it has announced a dedicated facility at its Narsapura plant in Karnataka. Initially with an installed capacity of 6,00,000 units, the company aims to reach an annual production figure of one million units by 2030.

Along with a dedicated facility, it has announced a dedicated EV platform, which will lay the foundation for multiple EV types—fixed, swappable batteries including mid-range electric vehicles. "With our EV roadmap, now in the execution phase, we are taking substantial steps towards creating exclusive infrastructure for manufacturing a diverse range of captivating electric vehicles. Parallelly, we are also investing in the development of EV technologies, charging infrastructure and aftersales services," says Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President & CEO, HMSI.

Niranjan Gupta

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