Indian Motos Blog » Hero Honda

What’s in the name Hero MotoCorp?

Shrawan Raja — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 05:45:00 +0000

A hundred crore apparently! 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.

Ranbir Kapoor to be signed up for Hero Group

Shrawan Raja — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:33:15 +0000

Break ups are becoming more common for the Hero Group. After breaking up with their 25 year partner – Honda, The Hero Group is also breaking up with their brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan and signing up Ranbir Kapoor as a replacement. 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 bumps up prices by 500-1500 rupees

Shrawan Raja — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 05:14:55 +0000

As a new year trend every automobile manufacturer raises prices of its products. But Hero Honda seems to have celebrated their new year a little early this time. Owing to rising input costs, the country’s largest motorcycle manufacturer Hero Honda has raised prices of its products by Rs 500-1500. 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

Hero Honda sets sight on Africa; Plans Splendor for Tanzania

Shrawan Raja — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 02:30:07 +0000

Two Wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda said that it is looking at exporting its products to African Nations. The product in question is the company’s extremely popular brand of motorcycle - Hero Honda Splendor. According to reports two marketing executives from Hero Honda have been set to Tanzania to conduct a feasibility study for the Splendor. The Tanzanian media reported that the company is targeting rural farmers with this economical bike. The company said that currently it is not looking at setting up a plant in East Africa although that is an option they have in mind as it is bound to bring down costs of its products. Hero Honda exports its products to neighboring countries and Africa could prove to be a very profitable market for the company given the high demand for economical products in that country. Source - Economic Times

Report – Bajaj’s targets for overseas markets

Sachet Parkash — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:19:54 +0000

Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL), the country's second largest two-wheeler manufacturer is targeting sales volumes of 70 % from its overseas operations in the years ahead. The company plans to take the fight to Honda Motor Company in the markets of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The company which had only a 30 % contribution from sales in overseas markets last year, aims to reach the set target of 70 % over the coming years. The company will be focusing mainly on its motorcycles in order to achieve its target. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto -

It will take us several years, but it only shows how much headroom there is for Bajaj even if we only focus on motorcycles

Bajaj also plans on tripling its current global market share of 10 % to 30 % in the coming years by leveraging its current partnerships with KTM and Kawasaki. The company is also looking to venture into new partnerships and Joint Venture (JV) agreements, in order to gain a leg up on market share currently held by rivals such as Honda Motor Company and Chinese two-wheeler manufacturers. Bajaj has also set its eyes on achieving an annual sales figure of 5 million units by the year 2012. The company had sold 2.8 million vehicles during the financial year 2009-2010. Bajaj's rival Honda had an annual sales figure of 9.63 million units, which also includes the sales figures of Hero Honda Motors Limited, the country's largest two-wheeler manufacturer and Honda's sister concern in which Honda owns a 26 % stake. Bajaj can definitely achieve the targets which it has set, considering that it has already started snapping at market leader Hero Honda's heels with its 100 cc Discover now having become the second largest selling bike in India in a span of just 11-months since its launch. The Discover has also enabled the company to eat into some of Hero Honda's market share and re-affirm its position as a strong contender for Hero Honda's position as the country's and world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer. Source - Business Week

Bajaj catching up fast with Hero Honda 100cc bikes

Sachet Parkash — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:44:21 +0000

Bajaj Auto is catching up with market leader Hero Honda in terms of sales figures of the bread and butter 100 cc segment of the Indian motorcycle market. Bajaj Auto has over the past few months taken a major chunk out of Hero Honda's market share in the 100 cc space by slashing it from 69% to 64%. The major reason for Hero Honda slowly losing its dominance in the 100 cc space is the tremendous success of Bajaj's Discover 100 cc motorcycle. The sales of the Discover 100 have been going through the roof ever since it was launched in August 2009. S Sridhar, CEO, Two-Wheeler Division, Bajaj Auto Limited -

Our company’s 100cc market share rose by 6% to 23% in the October-May period, while Hero Honda’s share in the 100cc segment fell from 69% to 64%. Even in terms of profitability, Bajaj has made rapid strides. Our target is to bring down the share of entry level (lowest priced bikes) in our portfolio to 16% by the end of this fiscal against 42% in 2008-09. This will ensure better profitability.

It looks like as if Hero Honda's downward slide in terms of sales figures in the 100 cc segment could continue over the next few months, with competition such as Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and India Yamaha Motor, all wanting in on market share of the lucrative 100 cc segment of the Indian motorcycle market. Source - DNA

Hero Honda is Highest Ad Spender in 2009

Sachet Parkash — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:30:48 +0000

According to a report published in Hindu Business Line, Hero Honda was the highest spending two-wheeler manufacturer in terms of advertisements in the year 2009, followed closely by TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto. Hero Honda had a 41% share of TV advertisements, while TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto had TV advertisement shares of 27% and 13% respectively. Coming to the brand ambassador side of the two-wheeler advertising scene in India, Hrithik Roshan leaves the others biting the dust in terms of the percentage share of endorsements with a 59% share of the advertising space. Follwing Hrithik in the hierarchy are Priyanka Chopra and MS Dhoni with a 20% and 10% market share of the Indian two-wheeler advertising space.

I don't know really as to how much of an impact does having a brand ambassador for a particular product have in the market in terms of success or failure of the product in the market, but the fact that the above mentioned statistics reveal is that Indian two-wheeler manufacturers are ready to spend and splurge heavily on advertising and marketing of a product and do whatever it takes to ensure that their product is a success in the market. Below listed is the TV advertisement rankings of the new two-wheelers launched in the year 2009

Source - 2Wheels India via Hindu Business Line

Four all new products from Hero Honda in next 18 months

Nazish Siddiqui — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:51:47 +0000

Hero Honda is gearing up to fight the tough competition in the days to come with 4 all new products

Seeing the competition from various two wheeler manufacturers in the country, the largest two wheeler manufacturer from India, Hero Honda, does not want to be left behind and in order to stay on top the company is planning to launch 13 new products over the next year and a half.

These 13 new products would consist of 4 all new products with 4 major variants and 5 minor variants, while the focus will be on premium segment the company will also be working to keep up its hold on the mass segment. The company will also has scooters as one of the other focus area.

With these new products lined up for the launch in the next 12-18 months the company is also targeting the sales figure of 5.6 million units for the next fiscal and an overall growth of 15 per cent. It looks like Hero Honda is taking up the competition in a serious mood and these new 4 product clearly justifies this fact. We all know that Hero Honda has the reliability which an average Indian Commuter biker wants but personally I'm yet to see something solid from the company in the premium segment. The Karizma ZMR the most hyped bike of last year disappointed a many. I would also like to see something exciting from Hero Honda in commuter segment like Honda's CB Twister. So lets wait and hope that this time something more exciting come out from Hero Honda's stable.

Hero Honda working on a low cost motorcycle with Honda for India

Nazish Siddiqui — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:42:55 +0000

The Hero Honda CD100 was one such low-cost bike for India

In order to be differentiators in the motorcycle world, Hero Honda is working on something similar to what Tata Motors did in the four-wheeler segment. Tata gave us the low cost car Nano and Hero-Honda is working on low cost motorcycle. This move from Hero-Honda will not only create in new segment in the two-wheeler industry in our country but will also help them generate more revenues. The cheapest bike in India costs somewhere around 30k but this one from Hero-Honda goes even further down and will cost somewhere around the price tag of Rs.20,000. In order to deliver such product Hero-Honda is likely to use frugal engineering’ techniques, the way Tata did for Nano in order to design their low cost car. This motorcycle will be targeted at the rural customers but the company is taking utmost precautions not to compromise on the quality and performance. This motorcycle will not be a step-through so as to differentiate it from a moped and give the customers a true feeling of riding a motorcycle. One of the company's senior official said that Hero Honda and Honda Motorcyles and Scooter India (HMSI) are studying the possibility of designing a low-cost bike, without compromising on the comfort and the basic features of a motorcycle. He further added that the main aim for this project is to provide the customers a product which is economical and qualifies to be called a motorcycle in terms of its speed and ride quality. However he didn't give out any details of the price tag of this low cost motorcycle but he did say that it will be less than the the cost of what is available in the market these days. If this motorcycle is launched it will be another milestone for the company which is already the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. By exploring the rural areas the company is going to witness large growth in the industry even in this time of tough competition.