On the outskirts of Jaipur at the village of Kukas, close to the city’s iconic Amer Fort, Hero Motocorp’s Chairman and Managing Director Pawan Munjal says a new iconic building has come up. The centrepiece of Hero Motocorp’s new Centre for Innovation and Technology (CIT) is an eleven story oval building which is lit up at night.
But it is what is inside this building and the smaller buildings surrounding it which Munjal hopes will make Hero Motocorp stand apart from the two-wheeler crowd as the country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer revs up international expansion plans. Fully equipped with a design studio, advanced testing rigs and laboratories for materials and prototypes, Munjal and his engineering chief Markus Braunsperger hope the 500 engineers at the CIT will be able to make a difference to the products that company is producing.
However, Braunsperger, formerly with BMW did point out that it will take some time to develop the skill sets and expertise required for Hero. “My former company just celebrated its hundredth anniversary recently, and that means there is a lot of built-up engineering knowledge. Keep in mind that Hero only has four years of engineering knowledge and we have to build that up. Which is why we have hired some top talent from across the world to help guide and teach young Indian engineers. Only when we complete a one lifecycle will we really start learning, it is early days yet”, he said.
In addition to all the prototyping and testing facilities there is also 16 kilometres of test track at the 237-acre site which replicate 45 different road surfaces to simulate Indian and international road conditions. Braunsperger pointed out that Hero was a bit lucky starting R&D late (they could not do product development when they were associated with Honda) which allowed them to fully integrate development facilities in one site. He said that many other companies outgrew their initial facilities and as a result have testing facilities far from the R&D facilities which makes this facility one of the best in the world.
However, Hero Motocorp has a lot of catching up to do with its Indian peers Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor, both of whom have had in-house R&D facilities for around 15 years now. Bajaj’s ‘DTSi’ engine technology was developed in-house as have been TVS projects such as the Apache RTR and Jupiter. This is why Munjal said the first aim of the CIT will be to look at Hero’s “core product range” and while some performance motorcycles will emerge, continuous development of the main products will be a priority. It is worth noting that all of Hero’s best selling products still use the engines and basic technology inherited after the divorce with Honda Motor Corp.
At the same time Munjal also reiterated that Hero is continuing with their international expansion plans. With a presence in around 28 countries already, Munjal said “As we speak we are about to launch in Nigeria and we are soon going to stat sales in Mexico too.”