Hero MotoCorp's rebranding exercise on motorcycles by September 2012

By September 2012, the Hero Honda Dawn will read Hero HF Dawn and the Hero Honda Splendor will read Hero HF Splendor. This, as Hero has quit its long time joint venture with Japanese automaker Honda a year ago and ever since, has been promoting its new brand name, Hero MotoCorp across the country. While the rebranding effort of Hero MotoCorp has been effected across Hero dealerships in India, the brand is yet to re-brand its range of motorcycles, which still continue to carry the Honda moniker alongside the Hero name. This too, will change in the coming months.

2012 Hero Ignitor 125cc Motorcycle

All of Hero MotoCorp’s motorcycles will now be branded only Hero from now on. Already, the brand has launched three products featuring the Hero branding minus Honda, in the form of the Impulse on-off roader, the Maestro automatic scooter and the Ignitor 125cc sports commuter motorcycle. This rebranding exercise will also be applicable to export markets, which Hero MotoCorp plans to focus in a big way, in order to seek out new growth areas for the brand, which is the largest two wheeler maker in the world, in terms of volumes.

Hero Impulse 150 Dual Purpose Motorcycle

After its break up with Honda, Hero MotoCorp has earmarked a sum of 400 crore rupees towards establishing a research and development center on the outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The brand has also renewed focus on developing independently developed products. The first of such homegrown products are expected to hit the Indian two wheeler market by 2014, the year when Hero’s technical collaboration with Honda ends. Hero has tied up AVL of Austria and Erik Buell Racing to develop high performance motorcycles, which are also expected to be launched in the next couple of years.

2012 Hero MotoCorp Maestro 110 Automatic Scooter

Hero MotoCorp is currently the market leader not only in terms of sales, but also in terms of the distribution network, which has the highest number of touch points amongst all two wheeler brands in India. Even so, the brand is continuously expanding its dealership reach. Coming to arch rival Honda, which wants to overtake Hero by 2020, Honda has embarked upon a marketing blitzkrieg of sorts to target rural and semi-urban India, to ensure that the Honda as an independent brand is recognized across India. This marketing effort features many Indian languages to reach the majority of the nation’s population.