Hero's New ₹59,490 EV Is a Direct Attack on Ola and TVS
NEW DELHI, JULY 1, 2025 – In a move that can only be described as a high-stakes gambit to reclaim its relevance in the electric vehicle race, Hero MotoCorp today launched its much-anticipated Vida VX scooter lineup. But this wasn't just another product unveiling. With an aggressive ex-showroom price of ₹99,490 and a revolutionary Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model that drops the upfront cost to a staggering ₹59,490, Hero has fired its loudest and most disruptive shot yet.
This launch is more than a course correction; it's a complete strategic reset for a brand that has, until now, been a paradox. The Vida VX is Hero's answer to a critical question that has plagued it since 2022: why has the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer been a laggard in the electric revolution?
A Journey of Unfulfilled Potential
When Hero MotoCorp entered the EV market in October 2022 with the Vida V1, expectations were sky-high. The launch, however, was a cautious, premium-focused affair, with prices soaring up to ₹1.59 lakh, limited to just three cities. The market's response was lukewarm.
Despite possessing arguably one of the most practical product features in the segment—dual removable batteries that solve the charging puzzle for millions of apartment dwellers—Vida has consistently underperformed. While legacy rivals like TVS and Bajaj successfully adapted their strategies to challenge the early dominance of startups Ola and Ather, Vida remained stuck in fifth place, celebrating monthly sales of around 7,000 units while its competitors battled in the 20,000-30,000 unit arena.
The brand's immense on-paper advantages—the trust associated with the Hero name and a colossal network of over 6,000 service touchpoints—failed to translate into market share. The reason, as data suggests, was a fundamental disconnect with the new-age EV consumer.
The Marketing Misfire and the "Buzz Deficit"
Vida's initial strategy was a classic case of applying an old-world playbook to a new-age market. By outsourcing its brand-building to globally acclaimed but traditional agencies like Wieden+Kennedy, Vida rolled out a series of high-budget, low-impact campaigns. Millions were spent on primetime IPL ad slots for its "Charging Simple Hai" campaign, as well as on high-profile celebrity endorsements featuring Bollywood stars Anil and Ranbir Kapoor.
The result was a critical "buzz deficit." Google Trends data consistently showed Vida's search interest flatlining at the bottom of the pack, even during its most expensive campaigns. The celebrity-led push, for instance, generated less than a fifth of the online curiosity of its rivals on the same day. While competitors like Ola built a digital-first tribe, Ather cultivated a community of tech evangelists, and Bajaj masterfully leveraged nostalgia, Vida was broadcasting a message the market wasn't tuned in to hear. It missed the power of a concentrated, event-driven launch—a strategy that allowed brands like Mahindra and Tata to secure tens of thousands of pre-bookings by creating a single, unmissable moment.
The VX Gambit: A Two-Pronged Attack on the Market
Today's launch signals that Hero has not only been listening but has gone back to the drawing board. The Vida VX lineup is a direct assault on the mass market, tackling the biggest barrier to EV adoption head-on: price.
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The Right Product, The Right Price: The Vida VX, expected to be a re-engineered and more practical version of the concepts showcased earlier, is priced at ₹99,490 (ex-showroom). This positions it aggressively against the entry-level variants of the TVS iQube and Bajaj Chetak, finally giving budget-conscious consumers a compelling reason to consider a Vida.
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The BaaS Revolution: The true masterstroke is the introduction of the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model. This allows customers to purchase the scooter for an unprecedented.
₹59,490 and subscribe to the battery on a pay-per-use basis at ₹0.96 per kilometer. This innovative model completely reframes the ownership equation. It removes the single most expensive component from the upfront cost, transfers the risk of battery degradation from the consumer to the company, and offers unparalleled flexibility.
Vida's Road to Redemption
With the new VX lineup and its disruptive pricing, the "what" of Vida's strategy is finally aligned with market reality. The appointment of new creative partners for recent campaigns and a broader call for a fresh media pitch suggest the "how" is also being overhauled.
The path forward, however, requires more than just a new product and a clever pricing model. It demands a complete marketing pivot. Vida must now leverage its vast dealership network not just as sales points but as community hubs. It needs to build a narrative around its practical innovations, like the removable batteries, and the newfound accessibility offered by the BaaS model.
Today, Hero MotoCorp has done more than just launch a new scooter. It has launched a new, more aggressive, and far more compelling identity for Vida. The hardware and the pricing are finally in place. The question that remains is whether the brand can now create the buzz it has so desperately lacked. If it can, the sleeping giant of the two-wheeler world may finally awaken in the electric era.