Hero to Launch Four New Products by 2017 Festive Season; First on Jan 14

Hero 4 new launch 2017

Hero to launch four new products by 2017 festive season; will strengthen premium portfolio and presence in international markets next year

Hero MotoCorp is currently developing new working prototypes across various segments in the domestic market as it plans to expand presence beyond entry-level space. The leading two-wheeler maker will be utilising the approaching festive season to lure more customers with attractive discounts and offers.

The company’s MD and CEO Pawan Munjal reportedly said three products will be launched before this festive season and consequently the new Achiever iSmart 150cc was already out. It will be followed by the Passion with i3S technology and new Super Splendor and perhaps Dare Scooter and the Glamour iSmart. The brand, indeed, launched its first in-house built iSmart Splendor 110 earlier this year and will be leveraging the technology across the commuter portfolio.

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Hero XF3R Concept

The soon-to-be inaugurated plant in Gujarat will be functional sometime in the beginning of next year. Besides that, at the fourth quarter, the Bangladesh production facility, which is the second global factory following Colombia for Hero, will be operational to cater global needs. Hero has already started looking at the bigger picture targeting big sales during the next festive season.

The ‘2017 Festive Mission’ will see four new products being launched but what they are is still left to speculation. Expanding its international presence, Hero appointed distributor for Argentina as market launch will happen in first month of 2017 while sales in Nigeria will begin soon. The first product expected to come out on January 14 next year might be the premium HX250 fully-faired motorcycle.

Hero HX250 production version-2Also Read: Hero MotoCorp Reaches 70 Million Sales Milestone

Hero’s CEO already announced his intention to feature in the slightly higher segments as the 200cc version of the lacklustre Xtreme could be launched as well. The company is facing tough tasks to build motorcycles complying with the advanced BS VI norms by the end of this decade.

Hero MotoCorp said last July that it wouldn’t be bidding for its bankrupted partner and US superbike manufacturer EBR (Erik Buell Racing). EBR was rumoured to be working on as many as 17 products with Hero with more focus on global markets. The Hero HX250R fully-faired performance bike, showcased at the Auto Expo 2016, was believed to be one of the models that had met with delay in development due to the uncertainty prevailed with the EBR’s assets.

2016 EBR Hero HasturThe four bikes having taken a development slump due to EBR were rumoured to be hydrogen fuel-cell bike iON, electric scooters Leap and SimplEcity and diesel bike RnT. Hero commenced operations at the Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) at Kukas near Jaipur eariler this year. It was confirmed by Chief Technology Officer Markus Braunsperger, formerly employed at BMW, that a new product will be built from the ground up in the next three or four years as 850 crores were invested in that facility.