Hero MotoCorp has announced ambitious plans of achieving 1 crore unit sales by 2017-18. The company aims to accomplish this with the help of aggressive expansion in other global markets.
The last financial year saw the company roll off 66.3 lakh two-wheelers from its production facility, though the number is expected to be significantly higher this year. As of now, Hero MotoCorp has four operational facilities in the country with a combined production capacity of 81 lakh units per annum. By 2017-18, Hero MotoCorp aims to ship off over 10 lakh units to its global markets, which would be 10 per cent of its total unit sales.
Talking about their expansion plans, Mr Pawan Munjal, chairman, MD and CEO, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. said, "We already are present in a number of countries in Latin America, South East Asia and Africa. I think we are already there in around 26-28 countries and as we speak, this month, we plan to enter the biggest market in Africa, Nigeria. As far as breaching the 10 million sales mark, I think we have talked about reaching the mark by 2017-18."
Hero MotoCorp has been on an expansion spree, ever since its split from long-time joint venture partner, Honda. While Bajaj and TVS have already established a foothold in this region, the Nigerian two-wheeler industry is currently dominated by a few Chinese brands. As such, Hero MotoCorp might face a challenge in making its presence felt. While the Indian-made motorcycles sold in Nigeria are cheaper than Japanese motorcycles, it can be difficult to price these products competitively against the Chinese counterparts. In a market like Nigeria, which is highly sensitive to pricing and the distribution network, Hero MotoCorp might have to take some extra effort to make sure it stays competitive against the Chinese brands as well as Bajaj and TVS.
Source: ET
