At the end of September 2022, Indian motorcycle manufacturing giant Hero MotoCorp made an electrifying announcement. It was making an investment of $60 million in California-based electric motorcycle manufacturer Zero Motorcycles, it said.
While Hero didn’t give many details at the time, we speculated that the OEM hoped to incorporate some of Zero’s technology into upcoming Hero electric models. Although Hero has significant experience at producing combustion-powered two-wheelers in both motorcycle and scooter formats, it had just released its first-ever electric two-wheeler earlier in 2022. Called the Vida V1, the scoot leveraged technological know-how garnered from Hero’s existing partnership with Taiwanese electric scooter and tech company Gogoro.
Now that you know the backstory, there’s more news to take in as of July 2023. Hero MotoCorp just released its latest Annual Report—and its stated plans regarding its partnership with and investment in Zero Motorcycles are all over this document.
It starts out slowly, saying things like “the partnership with Zero Motorcycles allows Hero to co-develop premium electric motorcycles, leveraging their expertise to create innovative and high-performance EVs.” It then goes on to add the broad statement that, “by diversifying its EV portfolio, Hero aims to capture a wider customer base and capitalize on the global shift towards electric mobility.”
Later on, the report states that “the collaboration combines the expertise of Zero with the scale of manufacturing, sourcing, and marketing of Hero MotoCorp.” All of this makes tons of sense so far, especially when you consider that Hero has long been the largest motorcycle manufacturer in India, and that India remains the largest motorcycle market in the world. While Honda still beats Hero in terms of global motorcycle manufacturing, Hero’s manufacturing, sourcing, and marketing capabilities are certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Further into the Hero annual report, we get more specific information regarding its forward-looking Zero partnership plans. “We have recently partnered with Zero Motorcycles to develop premium electric motorcycles. This is a significant force multiplier on our sustainable mobility journey. This partnership will allow us to marry Zero’s world-class expertise in developing powertrains and electric motorcycles with our manufacturing and distribution capabilities,” it begins.
It doesn’t stop there, though. “We will be bringing the Zero portfolio into India, increasing access for the Indian consumer to the best of international clean mobility options. California-headquartered Zero will be manufacturing its products in India too,” the text of the report continues. “With Zero as our partner, we look forward to accelerating the transition to electric mobility in India and across our global markets,” the section concludes.
Now is certainly the time—especially when you consider that in October 2022, fellow premium electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica publicly stated its intentions to head to India by 2024. As ever, we look forward to seeing how this story plays out over time and continents.
