Hero’s all new Glamour 125 debuts in Argentina

Hero MotoCorp has entered the Argentinian market, the 35th export destination for India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer. Hero will make available 5 products for the Argentinian market including an all-new Glamour 125. The current Glamour was sold in 18 export markets, where as the new Glamour will now be sold in 19 markets. The home market will receive the Glamour 125 in late February or early March. 

Not just glam

The new Glamour sees a sea change as it gets ready to meet future needs from markets across the globe. The engine is now of a vertical design instead of the earlier sloper design. As before, the all-new Glamour uses a 125 cc air-cooled engine and is available with a carburettor or fuel injection. However, the carburetted version now uses a CV carb and the fuel injection system is also more advanced. The new engine is significantly more powerful, with 11.5PS of power at 7500rpm as compared to 9.1PS at 7000rpm on the older Glamour. It also makes 6 percent more torque, 11Nm at 6500 rpm vis a vis 10.35Nm @ 4000rpm for the older model. 

While torque is generated higher up in the rev range, Hero claims fuel efficiency has improved by 3 percent to 60kpl for the carb version. The FI equipped version now delivers 62kpl, 7% more than before.  In terms of performance Hero claims the Glamour can hit 60kmph from standstill in 6 seconds and 5.6 seconds for the carb and FI equipped versions respectively. The Glamour will come with Hero’s i3S idle stop-start system and the automatic headlamp on system. 

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

In terms of features the Glamour gets an analogue and digital instrument console. The fuel gauge, trip and mileage meters are displayed on the digital display. This 125cc motorcycle is available with tubeless tyres as standard, while disc and drum brake options are on offer. The Glamour 125 will be available in four colour options for the carburetted version and three colours for the fuel-injected variant. 

Paving the way into Argentina

In the Latin American markets the Glamour is rebadged as the Ignitor, and Hero will have three more products to accompany it into the Argentinian market. These are the Hero Hunk and Hero Hunk Sports motorcycles. The 110cc Dash, an automatic scooter, will also be sold in Argentina. Step-throughs account for around 30 per cent of the Argentinian market. Hero has partnered with Marwen SA as its local distributor and the Argentinian partner has an existing assembly line with a capacity of 5000 units per year, with scope for expansion. So, the products will be exported from India as CKD kits.  

Bajaj Auto has a sizeable presence in Argentina too, and its 200 NS is quite a common site on the streets of Buenos Aires. Bajaj is said to clock about 25,000 units every year in this South American market. While Argentina is one of the larger two-wheeler markets in South America, its 5,00,000 – 7,00,000 market size is tiny compared to India. The market also happens to be highly fragmented with the market leader staking claim to less than 15 percent of the market share, with several Chinese brands being imported. 

Interestingly the Argentinian market has no prescribed emission norms, while India will have one of the most stringent norms in the world. So when Argentina makes the leap to global emission standards Indian products are likely to gain ground against the cheaper products imported from China. Hero also intends to build a solid sales and service network, starting with 40 outlets and going up to around 100 by the end of 2017. After sales and service and fuel efficiency are expected to be key differentiators in Hero’s favour. To help get the brand a jump start, Hero has signed up Diego Simeone, Coach, Atletico de Madrid as brand ambassador.