Hero MotoCorp on Thursday unveiled new variants of its existing models with additional features and better technology. The objective is to give customers more choices this festival season.

The 15 new products will hit the market this fiscal and prices will be announced at that time. The company will first launch 100cc motorcycles such as HF Dawn and HF Deluxe this month.

The new variants include Splendor iSmart with i3S technology (idle stop and start system), Pleasure scooter with integrated braking system, the all-new 150cc Xtreme with electronic immobiliser, 223cc Karizma and ZMR.

“Innovation, technology, youth and speed are the key buzzwords at the new Hero. It has been two years since we commenced our solo journey. We have made significant upgradation of our existing line-up, incorporating next generation technology and features,” Pawan Munjal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, told reporters here. Come February, he added that Hero will showcase another range of two-wheelers at the Delhi Auto Expo. It will launch 35 more products. This goes in line with its 2011 announcement to launch 50 products over the next three years, Munjal said.

Overseas plans

Hero will also enter Turkey and Egypt over the next few months. “We don’t want to enter Brazil with one engine (one product).

“We are preparing ourselves and will go with a range of products,” he said.

The company also plans to make low-cost bikes for the entry level segment in South Africa and South America.

However, Munjal clarified that low-cost does not mean cheap or sub-100cc bikes.

Apart from refreshing the existing models, the new one will have innovations developed by Hero’s own R&D team.

Patents have also been sought for them.

The company will launch its first bike without the technology of former partner Honda next year.

Hero MotoCorp’s shares on Thursday closed at Rs 2,046.15 on the BSE, down 0.69 per cent from the previous close.

>ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

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