FY26 closes record-strong (rev ₹46,830cr +15%, EBITDA 14.7%).

Can you give us more color on what we are seeing post GST in terms of segment color, splitting the 16-17% growth across entry, scooters, and rural urban color as well?

The festive 17-odd percent growth has improved in 1 day from 16.2% to 17% now. We've seen a very strong recovery in 100cc with a lot of fence sitters joining the mobility space, helping us grow ahead of the industry, with strong traction around Splendor and HF. Scooters have been a very good story of growth with almost 39%-odd growth in the quarter; rural was slow to start due to rain disruptions and early festive but has responded well towards Dhanteras and into November.

Post GST, is it that we've seen entry surge back, or is it more around everything being broad-based with scooters and new products adding in?

The fence sitters who joined the mobility space have really helped - first-time buyers generally hover around 70%, 72% on an average; in the festive, it went up to 81%, adding new customers to our portfolio. 100cc continues to be very aspirational for a large part of the country and has drawn new customers in. We had 12 new products this time across categories, with all responding very well across urban and rural focuses.

How should we think about the momentum as we go into the next 3 to 4 months given the postponement before GST and possible preponement post-festive?

The 17% number accounts for the time since Ganesh Chaturthi when GST cut was announced - growth from 22nd September onwards is far higher, so this balances out. Rural responded later in festive due to early festive timing not synced with crop harvesting, and with marriage season throughout November plus good Q4 and Q1 marriages, and two consecutive years of good monsoon, the indicators are positive. Leaders are increasing spend while smaller players are cutting back - a classic early cycle recovery pattern.

On exports, are there new geographies helping you, or existing geographies where you've been gaining market share, and what numbers should we look forward to going forward?

This quarter we've grown 3x the market and our 80-20 strategy of focus on top 10 markets is really playing out very well - we already have 12% market share in those top 10 markets and are number one in some, gaining share in the top 7 markets. Our new product launches across Asia and LATAM continue to do well, and our premium product contribution is 40%+ in global markets. We've been designing products specific to markets and investing in customer service - this combination is helping us sustain performance.

How do you see the scooterization trend settling now - have we hit a plateau or is there further scope of moving up, given GST cut and rural and first-time buyer expectations coming back?

The scooter contribution has been pretty robust with sub-segmentation of sporty, large wheel cruising, and metal body lower 100cc commuter segments emerging - everything is carving a niche and serving larger needs, so the momentum will sustain. We have a complete portfolio catering to all these subcategories and are seeing growth across these markets. ICE coupled with EV today is driving new sets of customers to our showroom, giving us confidence this will sustain going forward.

How do you see first-time buyer contribution settling over the next 2-3 years given 2-wheeler penetration is already on the higher side?

Every time an intervention like this has happened, we've seen the growth momentum sustain for few years. 2-wheeler volumes have not crossed pre-COVID levels yet, and we feel replacement demand should come back even more - we've seen customers holding on to their products much longer in the last 3-4 years with 4-year-old customers' percentage increasing in our workshops. As markets open up and sentiment is positive, new product introductions will help bring old customers in faster replacement cycles.

Did I hear you talk about a 10% kind of growth in opening remarks - is that for the full year or for the second half year?

Vivek said that 8% to 10% growth in the second half of the year, Pramod.

How would you look at the next 6 months or 1 year in terms of milestones for market share comeback for Hero specifically?

Our goal is to grow ahead of the market, which is what we have manifested as we made our portfolio more robust. Our focus going forward is going to be scooters where we have had really good excitement around new products, and the 125cc motorcycles with Glamour X and Xtreme 125R interventions have been very well accepted. As we step up campaigns and capacities, we are expecting a very strong H2 around 125cc and end up gaining significant share.

On growth expectations across segments - 100cc, 125cc, premium and scooters - how would you rank the growth rates for these segments?

We feel a very strong bounce back on the 100cc category - we have seen very strong demand across HF, Splendor and Passion portfolio where we have the strongest portfolio. With new customers coming in and replacement cycles to pick up, plus rural coming back sharply later in festive, this segment which has been subdued has its due. Scooters are expected to continue doing well across markets, so these 2 segments should largely lead the growth followed by the others.

On EV profitability, where are we in EBITDA margin, what are the milestones to improve profitability, and by when can we expect EBITDA breakeven?

Our number one priority is to continue investing behind product and brand building. At a product contribution level we are still in a negative zone - the second priority is getting to a product contribution neutral level by relentlessly working on bringing down BOM cost, getting PLI benefits approved, and we've taken a price increase effective 5th of November. As we get into start of next financial year, this will help us improve gross margin, and thereafter it's a matter of getting volumes up to help overall profitability.

What has worked for you in those 50 markets where you are number two - is it characteristics of marketplace or product profile, and what's the ambition of market share in overall EV space?

What has worked is the new product introduction in July 2025 - we launched our new EVOOTER, the VX2, in core markets, focused on consumers looking at versatility of a scooter with technology and total cost of operation of an EV. The product has been a resounding success with significant pull from consumers. Other elements include Battery-as-a-Service offering which allowed consumers who may not have considered an EV to walk into our showrooms with pay-as-you-ride model, plus large focus on brand awareness.

On the 8% to 10% growth expectation, are you referring to retail growth in the second half or wholesale growth for the industry in the second half?

Largely retail, but largely wholesale should also be in the same line. If you look at H1, largely wholesales and retails are largely matching, should match in the second half of the year as well.

On commodities, you mentioned lower input costs but aluminum and precious metals have moved up - how do you see commodity playing out in third quarter?

Commodity cost during the quarter was largely flat - aluminum prices came up but steel prices have actually come down during the quarter. Our LEAP program, which is the cost saving program, is really helping us keep commodities actually flat and even improving margins. On Q3, aluminum continues to see inflationary trend, so the expectation is some level of commodity inflation but more range bound within 1% to 2%.

Considering the recent elongated monsoon and agriculture states which have seen output loss in Hero core markets, what is your outlook on rural income visibility, and any early indicators of better crop realization or financing pattern?

Some of our core markets were impacted in MP, South Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, parts of Bihar, Bengal due to monsoons. The good thing is we have seen this coming back towards the later part of the festive and also in November - retail growth in November is strong, expecting a strong month. With 2 years of good monsoons overall, good rabi outlook and a good upcoming marriage season, these markets should come back, and we've already seen early signs.

In your experience over the last 10 years, is rural more of a necessity-driven demand where if there are short-term hiccups, demand can come back if there's a necessity?

It's resilient for sure. Unfortunately last 4 years since COVID we had seen disposable incomes getting stressed and overall prices went up significantly post BS VI - these were structural challenges which I think GST also solves. It has been a resilient economy and should come back strongly - this market is driven by a strong need as part of livelihood, so there's no reason why it shouldn't come back.

Last year December to March was sort of bad for industry, down around minus 8 percent - do we expect decent growth this December to March, and how are conditions in financing penetration and discounting?

The industry hasn't seen much discounting - as a company we are focused more on building brands and strengthening brands which will continue to drive aspirations. We have new products and haven't seen the market in full force - as we increase capacities and demand stabilizes, we are expecting H2 to be far more stronger. We are 45 days into Q3 and continue to see very strong momentum, expecting that to continue in Q4 as well.

And the financing is stable?

Overall from a full year perspective, financing largely is stable. Of course we'll see temporary ups and downs - some cash customers have come out more in the festive but the fundamental doesn't change. Companies will continue to innovate around financing products to keep momentum on, so we expect this to be stable around in H2.

On EV market share, how do you see the trend going forward - which segment in your opinion will see market share for EVs going forward?

The fundamental drivers for these two customers are very different, so we don't see a correlation between EV purchase and entry segment buying - they are largely meant for different usage patterns. We have different actions planned for expanding segment share in entry, getting replacement demand back by focusing on greater than 4-year customers coming to our workshops with early good responses. EV is a different strategy altogether and we don't see a correlation between demand drivers of both segments.

Would it be fair to say entry level segment will remain strong with GST cut and EV penetration might take away share from scooters - ICE scooters plus 125cc segment?

Trying to draw too many correlations there. If you look at entry segment for the last 2 quarters, the segment has started expanding - it went from as low as 7.9% in quarter 4 to almost 9.2% now, without GST impact. With GST coming in, this is expected to grow even more. We feel there will be very robust coexistence between ICE models and EV models across the industry as the drivers continue to be different.