Hero Motocorp to develop its own engines

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After Hero Motocorp split up with their erstwhile partner Honda, the company is showing keen interest in improving their technology and engine. Few days back, we had reported that the company had made a technology pact with the superbike specialist, EBR, of the US. Now, to overcome the technology deficit and to develop in-house capabilities in engine, Hero Motocorp has teamed up with the world’s largest privately-owned engine developer, AVL (Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List), of Austria.

Hero Motocorp is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer by volume in India. They gained this position when they were with Honda. To keep up the same credit, they are improvising their technology and expanding their manufacturing capacity.

Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO Hero MotoCorp as says “We have tied up with AVL to develop our in-house capabilities in engine technologies. A team from our R&D division is already in Austria. Our team is also working in close coordination with AVL ITC (India Technical Centre) based in Gurgaon. The team is working on a few options across motorcycles and scooters.”

Its technology tie-up with Austria-based AVL will allow Hero MotoCorp to develop technology for its everyday 100cc bikes such as Splendor and Passion. The tie-up will also help it take the 150cc CBZ and Hunk to the next level to meet exaggerated competition from rivals such as Honda and Bajaj Auto in this high-margin segment.

“We would be developing engines of all sizes to make new products and also smarten up the existing product lines. Gradually we will develop our own full-scale R&D facility to make products for global market on our own. The multiple technology and engineering would leapfrog to the next level even as we internally enhance our R&D to make products for trans-continental markets,” Munjal added.

It’s good to see Hero Motocorp tie up with a company that has earlier developed frugal workhorses for Indian companies such as Royal Enfield and Mahindra & Mahindra. The tie-up will benefit all the 16 two-wheelers Hero currently has in its portfolio. Apart from this, we can also expect bigger capacity motorcycles from Hero Motocorp in future.

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