Hero eyes 50 new markets, Rs 60,000-cr turnover by 2020

New Delhi: Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest two-wheeler maker, said on Thursday that it plans to have 20 manufacturing and assembly facilities to expand its presence to 50 countries across the world by the end of the decade. The company expects its annual turnover to increase to Rs 60,000 crore in this period.

To begin with, Hero MotoCorp will set up six assembly lines across three continents in 2014.

Pawan Munjal, managing director, Hero MotoCorp, said, “We will be selling in 50-plus countries by 2020. To top it all, I am talking of an annual turnover of Rs 60,000 crore.” The company's turnover was around Rs 24,000 crore in FY13.

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The firm, which recently forayed into the African continent by launching motorcycles in Kenya, said it will be expanding to new markets. Hero would launch the brand in 10 more markets by the end of FY14. Earlier, its export market was restricted to Colombia in Latin America and the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

“Between January and March 2014, we will launch some more additional markets, some in Africa, some in the Caribbean and Central American countries,” said Munjal. By 2017, the company expects 10 per cent of its sales to come from export markets.

Hero MotoCorp, which rolled out its 50-millionth bike here on Thursday, said it is now eyeing the 100-million mark.

“By the year 2020, we will have annual production of 12 million motorcycles and scooters every year. This will come from 20 assembly lines inside the country and outside the country,” said Munjal.

For the year ended March 31, 2013, total production was 6.2 million units. Currently, the company rolls out bikes from its three plants located at Gurgaon, Daruhera and Haridwar.

Last year, the firm had announced it will set up its fourth plant at Neemrana in Rajasthan and the fifth plant in Gujarat as part of a Rs 2,575 crore investment to enhance production and research and development capability.

The company plans to launch 12 new models in the next two quarters, starting September.

“In the next two quarters, we plan to offer more than a dozen new products to our customers. We are now ready, we will be up and running from September,” said Munjal. The new offerings will be across the entire product range of Hero MotoCorp, Munjal said, adding the company has also made a lot of progress in its R&D front to deliver new products. “A couple of weeks ago we test-fired an engine - the first time ever at Hero MotoCorp,” he added.