Hero Moto Corp. announced US-based Erik Buell Racing (EBR) as a technology partner on Wednesday. Founder Erik Buell is renowned for his engineering skills in motorcycle racing. In 1983, he started a company making motorcycles in Wisconsin. Harley-Davidson eventually took over the unit, distributing the Buell Motorcycle Company machines through its dealerships. But the global slump saw the Buell division being closed in 2009. Buell launched Erik Buell Racing (EBR) shortly after that. Pawan Munjal, Hero chief executive officer, said in an interview that EBR will provide technology for its new hybrid scooter and high-end bikes. Hero has thus far focused on 200cc-223cc bikes, but will now enter segments such as sports, leisure and racing. Edited excerpts:
Is the partnership confined to technology sharing or will there be equity involvement as well?
Pawan Munjal, CEO, Hero MotoCrop.
We will come to that at a later stage. Right now it’s more about technology.
Will EBR be your only technology partner?
No, we will have multiple alliances. We will be looking at specific and niche experts in various areas and have various plans.
Will EBR also help with design?
They will be working at our R&D (research and development) centre in close association with our engineers. There will be a lot of synergies. On the design aspect, we will get back to you as and when there is progress.
This is being done jointly. Their people will come and work with us in our R&D. Our people are stationed there. They are working together. Training is happening at both ends. At our end, we are investing in R&D and people. It’s not something that happens overnight. It will take at least a couple of years for our own R&D to be fully equipped. Also, we are not starting from scratch. We have the basic infrastructure. We were doing a fair amount of work even while being with Honda.
What kind of money will you be putting into this partnership?
It’s not only about money. Since we are going for multiple alliances, we are not putting a huge amount of investments in one particular partnership. But clearly whatever we do from now on in terms of design of products, styling of products will not only be limited to A market or B market. They are going to be for the global market, including the Indian market. We always had global customers. Now we are keen to meet their demands.
Is this step an indication that you want to reduce your dependence on Honda at the earliest?
While we had the option of using the brand till the transition period (June 2014), we have very quickly come up with our brand. The idea is to establish our brand. And over the next few months, we will also be switching the branding of the products.
How long will it take for a new product to emerge from this partnership?
We will be very soon showing some stuff with EBR capabilities. We are already working on it.
Will they be high-end bikes?
Well, that will happen over time. But to start with, we are trying to change some of the image of the company. I think when you say performance and power etc, you are talking about the engine. So that will take some time. In the near future, it will not be much more on power but on performance. We will very soon be showing some stuff that will indicate which way we are heading.