Hero MotoCorp (BSE: 500182, NSE: HEROMOTOCO) formerly Hero Honda is a motorcycle and scooter manufacturer based in India. Hero Honda started in 1984 as a joint venture between Hero Cycles of India and Honda of Japan. The company is the largest two wheeler manufacturer in India. The 2006 Forbes 200 Most Respected companies list has Hero Honda Motors ranked at 108.
In 2010, When Honda decided to move out of the joint venture, Hero Group bought the shares held by Honda. Subsequently, in August 2011 the company was renamed Hero MotoCorp with a new corporate identity.
“Hero” is the brand name used by the Munjal brothers for their flagship company Hero Cycles Ltd. A joint venture between the Hero Group and Honda Motor Company was established in 1984 as the Hero Honda Motors Limited At Dharuhera India. Munjal family and Honda group both own 26% stake in the Company. In 2010, it was reported that Honda planned to sell its stake in the venture to the Munjal family.
During the 1980s, the company introduced motorcycles that were popular in India for their fuel economy and low cost. A popular advertising campaign based on the slogan 'Fill it - Shut it - Forget it' that emphasised the motorcycle's fuel efficiency helped the company grow at a double-digit pace since inception. The technology in the bikes of Hero Honda for almost 26 years (1984–2010) has come from the Japanese counterpart Honda
Hero MotoCorp has three manufacturing facilities based at Dharuhera, Gurgaon in Haryana and at Haridwar in Uttarakhand. These plants together are capable of churning out 3 million bikes per year. Hero MotoCorp has a large sales and service network with over 3,000 dealerships and service points across India. Hero Honda has a customer loyalty program since 2000, called the Hero Honda Passport Program.
The company has a stated aim of achieving revenues of $10 billion and volumes of 10 million two-wheelers by 2016-17. This in conjunction with new countries where they can now market their two-wheelers following the disengagement from Honda, Hero MotoCorp hopes to achieve 10 per cent of their revenues from international markets, and they expected to launch sales in Nigeria by end-2011 or early-2012. In addition, to cope with the new demand over the coming half decade, the company was going to build their fourth factory in South India and their fifth factory in Western India. There is no confirmation where the factories would be built.
Termination of Honda joint venture
In December 2010, the Board of Directors of the Hero Honda Group have decided to terminate the joint venture between Hero Group of India and Honda of Japan in a phased manner. The Hero Group would buy out the 26% stake of the Honda in JV Hero Honda.
Under the joint venture Hero Group could not export to international markets (except Sri Lanka) and the termination would mean that Hero Group can now export. Since the beginning, the Hero Group relied on their Japanese partner Honda for the technology in their bikes. So there are concerns that the Hero Group might not be able to sustain the performance of the Joint Venture alone.
Hero MotoCorp
The new brand identity and logo, Hero MotoCorp, was developed by the London firm WOLFF OLINS .] The logo was revealed on 9 August 2011 in London, the day before the third test match between England and India.
Hero MotoCorp can now export to Latin America, Africa and West Asia. Hero is free to use any vendors for its components instead of just Honda-approved vendors.
