NEW DELHI: Banking on the cost competitiveness of the Indian market, domestic bike major Hero Honda Motors is looking to cross the shores and eyeing markets like South Africa and Middle East in partnership with joint venture partner Honda Motor Co of Japan, Managing Director Pawan Kant Munjal has said.
The company, which has a strong 50 per cent share of the burgeoning Indian motorcycle market, is looking to make strides outside the country in the coming time.
"We are looking at possibilities with our partners... (for) markets we believe we can definitely go and sell," Munjal told the media in an interview.
Hero Honda, which is a marginal player in terms of exports primarily as its JV agreement with Honda restricts its movement to some of the big markets, is looking to service markets where the Japanese major's current position is not going well.
"We would in future be talking to Honda that let's jointly go there. Using our competitiveness from India, why don't we do it there," Munjal said.
Even as it sold a massive 26.2 lakh vehicles in the Indian market last fiscal, exports for Hero Honda stood at a relatively small 64,015 units, that too on a 63 per cent growth.
On the other hand, its competitors in the Indian market like Bajaj and TVS have already made clear their intentions of eyeing a larger pie in foreign lands. Both have said they are either planning to set up greenfield facility or invest in joint ventures abroad, primarily in South and South-East Asian markets, where domestic products fit well in terms of engine capacity (100-180cc).
Munjal said that together as a team, both Hero Honda and Honda can go to some of the existing Honda markets where it has not been doing well in current set-ups. "This way, we can support existing activities in some of these markets to make them more effective and efficient," he said.
"We are looking at markets like South Africa and Middle East where we feel there can be potential," he said.
However, he refused to specify as to how far talks in this regard had progressed with Honda and what kind of set-up they are eyeing in these markets.
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