PEDAL FOR A BETTER WORLD.
Hero Cycles Ltd
Corporate Excellence Category
Hero Cycles Ltd
Established in 1956 in Ludhiana, Hero Cycles (Hero) started with manufacturing cycle components while slowly becoming the ‘Best Cycle Brand’ in India. Today, it is the largest manufacturer of bicycles in India with approximately 35% market share in the country.
The Company received a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1986 for manufacturing the most number of bicycles in a day. Its production units in Ludhiana and Ghaziabad are fully equipped with in-house R&D and produce major bicycle components and complete bicycles under stringent quality parameters and complying with all global standards. Hero has a vast distribution network comprising more than 200 suppliers and 2000 dealerships and it exports bicycles to over 50 countries.
The Company leads the Indian bicycle market in every consumer segment with brand offerings of Hero Sprint, Hero Sprint Pro & Octane. With a portfolio of over 200 models, and over 300 experiential retail stores called Sprint Stores Hero has transformed the retail landscape in the bicycles industry in India. A host of acquisitions, joint ventures and subsidiaries have added to the multi-fold growth of the corporate entity which is called HMC, a Hero Motors Company.
Corporate Culture & Company Activities
Hero group consists of around 6000 people globally, who cherish and share the vision of the company. The manufacturing plants organise small group activities, where teams huddle together and share ideas for business excellence projects. Employees truly believe in the benefits of cycling and have created many cycling groups, where they invite others from nearby communities for cycling trips every morning.
The Company believes in giving back to the society and regularly organise several cycle distribution events, where they distribute cycles to school kids and other members of society who are not very well off. They believe that with a bicycle, a poor person’s earning potential increases multi-folds. Hero also believes in connecting with all its’ stakeholders. Every year, the company organises several Dealer and sub-Dealer meets to inform their business partners of the on-goings of the company, future plans and other macro trends of the industry. These meetings are interspersed with fun and frolic and are eagerly awaited by employees and business partners alike.
Hero Cycles Ltd
2A-1001, 10Th Floor,
Two Horizon Centre,
Sec 43, Dlf Phase –V, Gurugram (Hr) – 122002
Tel: +91-24-6726700.
www.herocycles.com
Company Milestone
1986
- Named in the Guinness Book of World Records for manufacturing more than 18,500 cycles per day.
2012
- Hero Cycles’ crossed 130 million cycles.
2015
- Acquired Firefox Bikes.
2016
- First international acquisition, Avocet Sports Ltd. + acquired BSH Ventures in Sri Lanka.
2017
- Launch of Hero Sprint Stores, Future of Bicycle Retail.
- Formation of HGD , Hero Global Design, a global design center in Manchester, UK.
2018
- Launch of Hero Sprint Pro and the E-Bike, Lectro.
2019
- Launch of premium patented bikes in “OCTANE” range.
Achievements and Impact
Hero has been taking steady steps to establish itself as a major global player and as part of this strategy, it acquired Firefox Bikes, India’s largest premium bicycle brand, in 2015. In 2016, it made its’ first overseas acquisition of Avocet Sports Ltd. and took a majority stake in it. Avocet has been one of the top three distributors of bicycles, e-bikes, bicycle parts and accessories in the UK. The company added to its portfolio, Sri Lanka’s leading bicycle manufacturer BSH Ventures, further boosting its manufacturing capacity.
Hero has also recently launched its new brand Insync in the UK which has been designed specifically for the consumers of UK and Europe. The Company’s electric bike brand in India, “Lectro”, has been extremely well received by Indian consumers. It plans to launch its E-Bike in the European and USA markets very soon. The Company’s growth aspirations also took it to launch a premium components brand called “SPUR”, which will be expanding its product portfolio soon. In order to keep pace with the global aspirations, Hero is setting up a world class manufacturing plant at Ludhiana, Punjab in India, which is being called as “Hero Cycle Valley” and will take the installed capacity of Hero Cycles to 10 million bicycles per year.
In addition to the bicycles business, the Group also has an automotive components manufacturing wing, which supplies complete gear assemblies, gearboxes, brake discs, drums, steering knuckles, complete chassis modules for passenger cars and a number of other components to global giants such as BMW, Hero MotoCorp, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Nissan, GM, Suzuki, Toyota, Honda and Bosch. The group has very successful joint ventures with the renowned global companies such ZF group and Kiriu.
Future Direction
Hero remains poised to grow internationally by establishing itself as a global player in the developed markets such as the US, Europe and UK. It also aims to change the way cycling is perceived in the Indian market and move its business to target more choice users as against the captive users. The group entity is led at the helm by Mr. Pankaj Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director, and is looking for aggressive expansion of the group businesses on a global scale. The group is on a hunt for potential business acquisitions in Europe and the US, which can create significant business synergies and help them achieve their goals.
Mr. Rohit Gothi, CEO of Hero Cycles has been supporting the vision of the Company by aggressively promoting cycling and positioning Hero as a premium cycle brand in India and other markets, while focusing on improving the service, quality and supply chain of the products. With the addition of innovative products like the electric bike, Lectro and the performance bike Octane, which comes with patented designs and geometry, Hero has been making a statement of being an innovation led Company.