Cycle News

INTERVIEW HERO MOTOCORP'S PAWAN MUNJAL P92 you tell me what steps you've taken to address this? Well, firstly I wouldn't call it a problem, I would call it an oppor- tunity—with every challenge there is an opportunity. This is what I had wanted to do for all those years—I'd been longing to build our own engineering capability, to develop our own technology, and so we very quickly went out and made some technical alliances. We created an eco-system of technology with Hero's own new R&D department as the base, while we formed close alliances with Engines Engineering in Bolo- gna headed by Alberto Strazzari, then with Erik Buell and EBR in Wisconsin, and we've also built a very close liaison with AVL in Austria for engines. All these put together meant we were very quickly able to come up with some new stuff for the Delhi Auto Expo in February 2012, where we showed a concept of a serial hybrid scooter called the Leap that was jointly developed by Erik Buell and us, and two years later at the same show we launched a prototype version which will enter production this year. That was a very astute product, because I remember it got you immediate front page coverage in newspapers and magazines throughout India, showing that—yes, indeed, there is life for Hero after Honda. That was absolutely the purpose of creating the Leap. A company which all the past 27 years had been totally depen- dent upon a technology partner for any kind of new product— which the world had assumed had no capability, no inherent potential for engineering innova- tion—had to go out and prove itself, which we did. First with the Leap, then two years later with the very large array of new products we showed at the 2014 Auto Expo in Delhi, and which we brought to the EICMA Milan Show late last year where we announced our intention to start selling in Europe. That 2014 explosion of 17 new models in all must have given you a great deal of sat- isfaction? Absolutely, I think it was a very successful landmark moment for us. We were clearly able to send out an important message. And that was not the only thing we conveyed to the world there. We also did something arguably even bigger than any concept model or prototypes. We went from a two-year warranty on all our products up to a five-year warranty, which sent the mes- sage that we have the technol- ogy, we have the capability and the volume, and we have belief in our products, which was very confidence building. Especially in a market like India where purchasing even a utility motorcycle represents a very significant investment. So to extend the warranty so dramatically must have given you a huge amount of public- ity and support, did it? It did indeed. Once this went out we saw an immediate spurt in our sales which we couldn't attribute to anything else. It really made a difference, and meant our customers felt they could repose a lot of faith in Hero—and that sales volume has been maintained. CN Munjal felt it was time to cut ties with Honda in 2011 even though the joint venture was a success.

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