Obviously Shakespeare wasn’t aware of modern corporate strategies when he first asked that. Hero Honda has invested Rs 100 crore in the restructuring of the brand. On August 9th, the company will reveal the much awaited global brand identity in London.

Although the agreement last year allows Hero group to use the Honda brand till 2014, the two-wheeler major is insistent on acquiring an independent identity as soon as possible to maintain its numero uno rank at the top. Previously in May, the company had hired a Wolff Olins, a brand consultancy firm. The firm was assigned to restructure the logo, brand architecture and image of the company.

Later on in May, the company employed Law & Kenneth as the creative partner for devising a new brand positioning and reworking the image of the company. Now that shareholders have approved of the change in branding, a full fledged revamp drive will be backed by a of slew strategic initiatives. The news comes in with Hero Honda posting its highest ever quarterly sales of over 1.5 million units.

The two companies had signed a new licensing agreement in March this year. According to the agreement, Hero will pay its Japanese counterpart a sum total of 45 billion yen (about 2450 crore) till 2014. The move is the first important step since Hero decided to go solo after a good 26 year old run with Honda.

The cosmetic elements have been enhanced. Hero Honda has planned for continuously refreshing its products to keep the interest alive on the bikes.

2011 Hero Honda Glamour facelift changes

• New Stickers
• Redesigned Front cowl and visor
• Sportier muffler cover
• New digital + analogue meter console
• New trapezoidal headlight
• Tank extension
• Maintenance-free battery

2011 Hero Honda Glamour Price

The prices haven’t seen much of change yet the new goodies on offer will excite the customer and will surely affect the sales, that too in the favor of the company.

According to the Hero Honda website the indicated price of the Glamour is

• PGM FI (Front Disc): Rs. 70,018 (On road Bangalore)
• Front Disc Variant: Rs. 61,130 (On road Bangalore)
• Front Drum Variant: Rs. 57,781 (On road Bangalore)

2011 Hero Honda Image Gallery

[Source - BharatAutos.com]

This is Hero Honda’s way to keep the ZMR going. With new motorcycles in its class like the Honda CBR250R and many others entering the ring in the next one year, Hero Honda might be nervous of consumers drifting away to newer products. The updates on the ZMR will not make it a sizzling two-wheeler. At best it can prevent people from forgetting its existence.

Our friends at Motoroids have documented the key differences in a blog post -

• Grab rails in body color
• Mirrors painted in body color
• Mildly redesigned instrument console with large ZMR logo
• Slightly reworked seat wrapped in new material
• Cosmetically altered exhaust
• Speedometer with white background lighting
• New colours and graphics

Source – Motoroids.com

Head over to http://www.herohonda.com/karizmazmr/ to learn more.

The reason for the change is because the Hero Group wants to change its brand image and wants to focus on the youth. This corporate tra­nsformation also includes a change in brand name, positioning and bra­nd buil­ding over the next few years.

The new strategy consists of promoting independent brands like Splendor, Passion, Pleasure and Karizma ZMR instead of promoting individual brands. The company has also started building bikes without the Honda brand name, according to vendors.

Anirban Das Blah, MD and CEO at Kwan Entertainment and Marketing Solutions, a company that is responsible for Ranbir’s endorsement deals, did not deny the development but did not give out details of the Hero deal.

Let’s hope Ranbir can work the same magic as he did for the Nissan Micra.

Hero Honda Karizma Force Silver side view

Our friends at Motoroids have analyzed the changes and they are -

• The engine cowl sports a new design
• There are non-luminous, orange colored radium reflectors giving company to the untouched half fairing
• The blinkers are encompassed using a clear lens case. Added to that are the silver inserts inspired from the Karizma ZMR
• Instrument panel is upgraded with new colors and a fresh design
• Force Silver is the new color addition to the existing choice of colors

Hero Honda Karizma new indicators

Our question for the 2011 Hero Honda Karizma

Do you think this will work for Hero Honda? Can it hold a candle to the upcoming crop of VFM 250cc bikes?

Credit – Motoroids.com

The models in the lower segment have received a minimal hike while top models like the Karizma have received the highest hike in prices.

A Hero Honda official -

We have always taken a long-term view on pricing, given its strategic nature. Hence we had consciously held back price increase on most of our products despite the rising input costs and hardening commodity prices

Following this hike, will Bajaj, TVS and Yamaha follow suit?

Source – mydigitalfc.com

As per centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, home-grown manufacturers sold 10,09,554 motorcycles globally in the month of October. This shows that the popularity of the two wheelers in India has grown over the time, and with the number of new models arriving in the market place, this number will continue to grow.

Bike sales have zoomed ahead despite several low-cost cars in the horizon

The premium segment has also shown tremendous growth in the past few months. The finance schemes available these days makes it easy for everyone to buy motorcycles of their choice.

Many car manufacturers are working on low budget cars, the Tata Nano is one of the typical example of such car and many other manufacturers are also planning to follow the footsteps of Tata. But even after the launch of the Tata Nano which costs a little over a lakh of rupees, bike sales have only blossomed in India.

New Hero Honda Hunk will help the company see numbers this Diwali

New Hero Honda Hunk features

Semi-digital instrument console
LED tail lamp
A rear disc brake
Tubeless tyres
A new visor

Obviously, being just a facelift, no changes have been made to the tech specs. And the price of all this ‘newness’ – Rs 59,990, ex-showroom Delhi. (Because Rs 10 matters so much to a customer who is spending more than 50K )

New Hero Honda Hunk Brochure

New Hero Honda Hunk Press Release

New Delhi, October 28, 2010: Close on the heels of three new launches in recent weeks, Hero Honda Motors Ltd., the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, today launched yet another bike leading into the festive season.

The newly refreshed Hero Honda Hunk 150cc will include exciting new features which would add to both the ride experience as also muscularity of the product. Hero Honda recently launched the New Super Splendor, Splendor Pro and a Commonwealth Games Limited Edition bike. The introduction of the New Hunk takes the company’s new launches for the festive season to four bikes now.
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Anil Dua, Sr. Vice-President (Marketing & Sales), Hero Honda Motors Ltd said, “We are excited to introduce a new version of the successful and popular Hunk. The New Hunk is sportier, sturdier and comes with additional features. I am sure, with its dashing appearance and great riding experience, it will be now even more appealing to youngsters.”

“Hero Honda’s strategy of constantly upgrading its product range has been instrumental in driving our growth. The new Hunk is another step in this direction and the launch will be supported by a 360 degrees marketing programme.”

Beyond its exciting appearance, the irresistible Hunk now comes with Analog & Digital Combo Console, Red Hot LED Tail Lamp, Front & Rear Disc Brakes, Tubeless Tyres, Muscular Front Fender and New Style Visor. With all these loaded in, the rider is sure to have an enhanced riding experience.

The new Hunk will be supported by a high visibility campaign highlighting “the all-muscle Hunk” to further enhance the macho and muscular image of the bike. In a segment where customers seek styling, performance and added features, the all new Hunk will provide a perfect blend of great features and comfortable ride even in extreme road conditions.

The Hunk features an Air Cooled, 4 – Stroke Single Cylinder OHC engine, delivering raw power of 14.2 BHP @ 8500 RPM and a torque of 12.80 N-m even at a low RPM of 6500 with unmatched super acceleration of 0-60 Kmph in flat 5 seconds. The Advanced Tumble Flow Induction Technology (ATFT) engine delivers the best balance of Fuel efficiency and Power and an advanced Microprocessor Ignition System with Multi Mapping Digital CDI enhances quicker throttle response.

Priced at Rs 59,990/- (cast/disc/self, ex-showroom Delhi), the New Hunk is being made available at all Hero Honda dealerships across the country.

The most successful JV in India, one that has lasted 26 years, Hero-Honda is all set to hit for a complete split by 2014. As a result, the Munjal family is rethinking its marketing strategy for the Indian Bike market.

The family is in talks with major brand marketers and research agencies to revamp its image. The first and the obvious change is that it will drop the ‘Honda’ name from its advertising campaign.

Sources say that the company is more likely to move from parent brand to product brand strategy where the emphasis will be products like ‘Splendor’ and ‘Passion’ rather than on the Hero tag. A new logo is also on cards and will be ready shortly.

From the past 26 years, Honda has supplied the technology and Hero has manufactured the bikes and sold them. But all this will end by 2014, as Honda will no more supply the technology for the bikes.

Hero will have to depend on its in-house research for the same. But if we look at the bright side, Hero could save up to Rs. 5,500 crores on royalty that it is suppose to pay Honda for the technology.

The Hero Honda Achiever has been a sales disaster. This bike has been a dull market performer for the company ever since it was launched in 2005. This 150 cc commuter was never a competent product and suffered from an identity crisis as it look terribly similar to the Ambition which was also a flop.

Hero Honda gave it a minor upgrade in 2007 in the form of new alloys and some stickers but that did not help things either. Now with the 150 cc commuter bike segment really hotting up thanks to Bajaj’s successful Discover 150 CC, Hero Honda had to do something with the Achiever.

The bike gets new body graphics, black coloured engine covers and certain other very minimal upgrades. Now we are not sure if all these gimmicky changes really help. A rather sufficient amount of decrese in price should help the company push the Achiever out of showrooms.

Thanks to Payeng for the pointing this out