Hero develops three new engines inhouse

Two years after its split from Honda, Hero is finally set to power bikes from its own engines — including a 100cc — as the company has managed to cross one of the biggest hurdles it faced after the exit of its Japanese partner. Hero has developed three new engines and these will gradually be strapped across the company's product portfolio, including blockbusters Splendor and Passion.

"We have fired three new engines, and we have done this ourselves," Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO of Hero MotoCorp, told TOI. Apart from the 100cc engine, the company has developed a 110cc and a 250cc engine. "Each of these engines perform much better than our existing engines, and they are very fuel-efficient, the efficiency being higher than any bike currently running on Indian roads," he said, adding that these would form the backbone of a majority of Hero's two-wheeler products.

Research and development and the capability to develop new engines was seen as one of the biggest challenge for the Munjal-run Hero as earlier the company had free access to Honda's huge capabilities in the area. Honda had been the only source of R&D in the now-defunct Hero Honda and its exit from the venture had raised doubts over the capability of the Munjals to quickly make up for the erstwhile partner's strength. Munjal conceded that the departure of Honda was no less than a challenge. "There surely had been an impact. They did bring in equity into the JV in terms of technological strength. We are now building up that equity ourselves."

As it builds up its own R&D strength, Hero has also been stitching up alliances with other companies to create an eco-system of technological know-how. The partners include Austrian engine developer AVL Engineering, Engines Engineering of Italy and Erik Buell Racing (EBR) of the US (in which the company has also picked up a 49% stake). Simultaneously, the company will soon begin work for setting up an integrated R&D centre at Kukas in Rajasthan.

Sharing details on the new engines, Munjal said that they could be strapped on the bikes from 2014. "The 110cc engine will be used on our current range, and will be ready for commercial launch towards the festive season of next year. On the other hand, the 100cc engine is a vertical engine currently being developed specifically for the Nigerian market."