Vida's Final Gambit: Can a New Product and Playbook Fulfil Hero's EV Promise?

NEW DELHI, JUNE 30, 2025 – Tomorrow, the lights will go up on what is arguably the most critical launch in Hero MotoCorp's recent history: the Vida VX electric scooter lineup. This is more than a standard product unveiling; it represents a high-stakes moment of reckoning for the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer. It's a second, and perhaps final, chance to get its EV strategy right, to bridge the vast chasm between its immense potential and its so-far underwhelming performance in India's fiercely competitive electric scooter market.

The Journey So Far: A Study in Contrasts

Since its cautious, premium-focused debut in October 2022, Vida's journey has been a frustrating paradox. On paper, it boasts one of the most practical and well-engineered products on the market. Its unique dual removable batteries offer a compelling solution to the charging puzzle for millions of urban Indians living in apartments—a real-world advantage that its top rivals, with their fixed batteries, cannot match. A deeper look at its pricing, analysed on a per-kilowatt-hour basis, often reveals better value than its sticker price suggests. Above all, it carries the implicit, colossal advantage of being "Powered by Hero," a name synonymous with trust, reliability, and an unparalleled service network that penetrates every corner of the country.

Yet, despite these inherent strengths, Vida has remained a fringe player, a surprising laggard in a race it was expected to lead. The sales data from the VAHAN portal tells a clear and unambiguous story. While legacy rivals TVS and Bajaj successfully cracked the EV code to challenge the early dominance of startups Ola and Ather, Vida has struggled to break out of the second tier. While competitors regularly battle for the top spot with monthly sales exceeding 20,000-30,000 units, Vida celebrates crossing the 7,000-unit mark as a major milestone.

The Marketing Misfire: A "Buzz Deficit" in a Digital-First Market

The core of this underperformance lies not in the product's engineering, but in a profound marketing misfire. An analysis of Google Trends data reveals a critical "buzz deficit." While competitors generate consistent, dynamic online curiosity, Vida's search presence is a near-flat line. Even a high-decibel, multi-crore campaign featuring Bollywood A-listers Ranbir and Anil Kapoor ahead of the launch failed to move the needle, generating less than a fifth of the search interest of its rivals on the same day.

This points to a fundamental strategic error: applying an old-school, broadcast-style marketing playbook to a new-age, digitally-driven market. By outsourcing to large, traditional agencies, Vida has relied on expensive TV ad slots during the IPL and celebrity faces—tactics that build passive awareness but fail to create the two currencies that matter in the EV space: conversation and community. The modern EV buyer is not swayed by a famous face on a billboard; deep-dive YouTube reviews, owner forums, and the concentrated hype of a well-executed launch event influence them.

This is a lesson competitors have learned well. Mahindra's "Born Electric" event generated over 30,000 pre-orders by creating a singular, unmissable moment. Tata built immense credibility for the Harrier EV with a "Delete Impossible" campaign that showcased its capability, sparking organic discussion. MG's Windsor launch, with its disruptive Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) announcement, secured over 8,000 bookings in a day. These brands understood that a launch event creates a gravitational pull for media and influencers, who then amplify the message authentically. In contrast, Vida's expensive ad campaigns were a distributed message that the market simply tuned out.

The Course Correction: A New Product, A New Playbook

The upcoming VX launch is pivotal because it signals a potential reset on both product and strategy. The VX lineup itself is engineered for the mass market, with an aggressive price point expected to challenge the entry-level segment head-on. This finally aligns the "what" with the real volume opportunity in the market.

The more critical question is whether the "how" has been fixed. The recent appointment of a new creative agency and a reported shift in marketing strategy suggest that Hero MotoCorp may have learned its lesson. This launch provides the perfect platform for a new narrative. Instead of just selling a scooter, Vida must now sell a story of accessible, practical innovation, backed by the undeniable promise of Hero's reliability. It must leverage its dealer network not just as sales points, but as experience centres and community hubs for test rides and owner meetups. It needs to trade the celebrity endorsement for an army of genuine customer advocates who can speak to the product's real-world advantages.

Tomorrow isn't just about launching another electric scooter. It's about launching a new, more confident identity for Vida. It's the brand's best chance to course-correct its journey by finally aligning its modern, practical product with a modern, engaging marketing playbook. The product is ready, the pricing is poised to be aggressive, and the legacy of trust is unmatched. Now, it's up to Vida to finally make some noise that the market can't ignore. India is watching to see if the sleeping giant of the two-wheeler world will finally awaken in the electric era.