BENGALURU, Aug 8 Reuters Indian bike maker Hero MotoCorp on Tuesday said it received over 25,000 bookings for the world39;s cheapest Harley Davidson motorcycle, sending shares up over 3.

The company said 65 of the bookings for the X440 were for the motorcycle39;s topend variant, priced at 269,000 rupees.

Hero, the world39;s largest motorcycle maker by sales, said in a statement it will begin production of the X440 in September and begin deliveries from October.

Earlier this month, Hero raised prices of the bike by 10,500 rupees 126.8 across models, days after Harley Davidson39;s CEO said preorders of the new model exceeded the company39;s expectations.

Harley partnered with Hero to develop and sell a range of its own branded bikes in India, starting with the X440, after exiting the country and shuttering most of its local dealer network in 2020.

1 82.8050 Indian rupees

Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K

Source Reuters