Hero to develop market-specific products to target Honda’s 80 percent market share in Brazil.
Hero MotoCorp plans to enter new South American markets – Brazil and Mexico by March 2019. The Indian manufacturer would be directly competing against former partner Honda, which happens to hold almost 80% of market share in Brazil. According to reports, Hero is developing flexi-fuel engines for Brazil as the country uses ethanol blended petrol.
Hero had aimed to penetrate the Brazilian market around the 2016 Rio Olympics but plans got delayed. At present, the two-wheeler manufacturer has set a target of entering the Brazilian market by the second half of FY2019. The launch in Mexico though is said to take place much sooner than that.
Penetrating the Brazilian market won’t be easy for the Indian firm as its former partner, Honda has been present in that market since 1976. A statement from the latter company’s local unit in Brazil, Moto Honda da Amazonia claims to hold around 80 percent market share in Brazil. Therefore, to tackle the said situation, Hero has stated that they would be developing products specifically tailored according to the needs of the respective markets around the world.
Brazil happens to be South America’s largest and fourth largest two-wheeler consumer market globally. The annual consumption for Brazil in terms of volume is around two million units whereas Mexico caters to the sale of more than half a million units annually. With a presence in 35 nations already, entries to these new heavy-consumption markets would boost Hero’s prime objective of having its presence in 50 nations by 2020. Since it parted ways with Honda, around six years back, the company has expanded its international divisions in various nations like Argentina, Peru, Turkey and Egypt.
Corroborating on its international networks, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer in terms of volume, has assembly units in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The entire network is established through distributors and the Indian company even has a manufacturing facility situated in Colombia. Hero plans to set up its second manufacturing plant outside India in Bangladesh.
Hero To Enter Brazil
– Hero MotoCorp to enter Brazil and Mexico by March 2019
– The Indian company would rival its former partner, Honda
– Hero to develop flexi-fuel engines for Brazil
– Honda holds 80 percent market share in Brazil
