Hero MotoCorp is bringing back product development for all its models to India which was previously handled by EBR and the company is prepping up to restart work on the upcoming products.
A very ambitious Hero MotoCorp collaborated with Erik Buell Racing (EBR) post the split with Honda in a bid to strengthen its research and product development division. However, coming as a blow to the company’s future operations, the EBR bankruptcy delayed several of the company’s plans as the product development of its models took a backseat. Nonetheless, the Indian two-wheeler giant is now working towards putting things back in place and has commenced the process of bringing the product development of models back to India from EBR headquarters in the US.
Making a statement at the inaugural general meeting of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers ( SIAM), Hero Chairman and MD, Pawan Munjal stated that due to EBR filing for bankruptcy, there has been a slight delay in the timeline for launch of these models. But, work on the products will now be continued from India and the shifting process is under finalisation. The automaker further stated that while some of the initial models developed under the collaboration have already been launched, the rest will also hit the market in the due course of time.
EBR was instrumental in the development of automaker’s highly awaited HX250R among other models and the former has taken the maximum beating due to the delay. Nevertheless, the Hero MotoCorp has purchased some of EBR’s assets that were relevant to the development of the new products that will help take the process forward. The company also stated that it was open to source from different partners in order to support its own R&D ecosystem.
While Hero did not give an exact timeframe for the launch of the new products, it does have two new scooters the Maestro Edge and Duet that will hit the market in the next few weeks. The Splendor maker is bullish about the upcoming festive season that will be a major volumes provider and is already stocking up for the same. The company is also looking at new export markets including Nigeria, Mexico and Argentina as part of its global expansion strategy.
Source – EconomicTimes.com
