Earlier in March this year, Hero MotoCorp unveiled ‘Vida, Powered by Hero’ as the new identity for its emerging mobility solutions
Homegrown automaker Hero MotoCorp is eyeing to enter the European and Latin American markets with its EV products under its new EV brand Vida.
As per a conversation by ET with Hero MotoCorp Global Business Head Sanjay Bhan, electric vehicles are a focus area for the company, which will introduce its first product in the segment next quarter. Apart from local sales, some of the key geographies for EV products will be Europe and Latin America.
“Vida, Powered by Hero, is a global brand and we are working towards priming our strategic markets ahead of the products and services launch. Some of the key geographies for our EV products will be Europe and Latin America along with a few more markets”, informed Bhan.
Earlier in March this year, Hero MotoCorp unveiled ‘Vida, Powered by Hero’ as the new identity for its emerging mobility solutions. The first of the Vida products – an electric vehicle – will be officially unveiled on July 1, 2022, to coincide with the birth anniversary of Brijmohan Lall Munjal, the late founder of Hero MotoCorp.
The production of the new Vida model will be done at Hero MotoCorp’s manufacturing facility in Chittoor, India. Dispatches to customers will begin later in 2022. Hero MotoCorp has tied up with Taiwan’s Gogoro to set up a battery swapping network ahead of the launch of its first electric two-wheeler, a collaboration which may also be extended to global markets.
“There is a great appreciation for EV products, especially in mature economies and we are aiming to be present in a lot of these markets. Undoubtedly, EVs provide us access to several new geographies as it opens up new customer and mobility segments”, said Bhan.
Bhan informed the company has enhanced its global operations, both in terms of volumes and presence. In the coming months, Hero MotoCorp is looking at further expanding its presence in international markets like Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Mexico in Latin America; Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa; Nigeria in West Africa; and Bangladesh and Nepal in Asia to shore up volumes.
Overall, Hero MotoCorp – which registered its highest-ever sales from markets outside India last fiscal – is aiming to register 15% of its sales from overseas business by 2025. Bhan informed, “We have witnessed significant growth in our global business over the past two years and we are working towards taking the contribution of global sales to 15% of our overall company sales within the next couple of years.” The maker of Splendor, Xpulse 200 and Xtreme 160R motorcycles, recorded sales of 300,624 units in its 42 global markets in the last financial year, a growth of 57% over 191,609 units sold in FY’21.
Hero MotoCorp is working on further bolstering its operations, product portfolio and services bouquet in its global markets. The company has developed market specific products – Hunter 100 motorcycle in Nigeria, Hunk 200 in Latin America and the Hunk 150 in Middle-East – to reach targeted customer segments. Motorcycles like the Xpulse 200 and Xtreme 160R additionally has enabled the company to cater across customer segments in key geographies.
