It’s surprising to know no blogs, forums or mainstream auto journalists have so far noticed that apart from removing the Honda name from all the vehicles that were displayed at the 2012 AutoExpo, Hero Moto also rebranded its popular motorcycles. As we had told you before, Hero and Honda are still in a technical agreement till the year 2014 where the latter has to provide technical support. After 2014 Hero will no longer use the name of Honda, neither it its motorcycles nor in spare part packaging. So it is necessary for Hero to make this rebranding before the 2014 deadline.
Now according to reports Hero CBZ Xtreme will be now known as Hero Xtreme, whereas Hero CD Dawn-Deluxe will renamed as Hero HF Dawn/Deluxe and Hero Karizma ZMR PGM-Fi will now be called as Hero Karizma ZMR Fi in future. However, there are not any major changes introduced in the names of these bikes so that they may easily be recalled by the customers when they visit Hero MotoCorp showroom.
According to the treaty signed between Hero group and Honda Motors, Hero MotoCorp may use Honda’s name on some of its existing bikes Hero Honda and other bikes patented with Honda’s identity including Honda CB, CD and PGM-FI till 2014. Earlier when Hero Honda had launched Hero Honda CBZ, it was not supported by any easy and capturing name like Xtreme. Now the company anticipates whether replacing the CBZ identity with Xtreme will be appreciated by the CBZ enthusiasts or not.
However, it is reported that Hero MotoCorp is designing a new promotional strategy for these brand names among the bike users to make them familiar with new identities. With this promotional strategy, Hero MotoCorp will also have to cope with the war started by Honda Motors and Scooters India Limited by unveiling Honda Dream Yuga recently at the Auto Expo to capture the market of Hero MotoCorp Impulse. Now, though whatever the results of this will be, one thing that is pretty sure to happen is that in the coming years, Indian bike riders will be served with qualitative bikes.
Also see – Honda declares war on ex-partner Hero, targets No. 1 spot
Hero Motocorp launches Passion XPro 110cc, Ignitor 125cc & Maestro 110cc scooter
Image credit – Team-Bhp/Motorbeam (Via – 2WheelsIndia)
