Hero MotoCorp

Owned by the Munjal Brothers, Hero MotoCorp is the world's largest manufacturer of two-wheelers with an annual output capacity of 9.5 million. The company is engaged in eight manufacturing facilities globally – six in India and one each in Columbia and Bangladesh. The firm came into being after a collaboration agreement between Japan's Honda Motor Co. Ltd and Hero Cycles. It was incorporated as Hero Honda Motors Ltd in 1984. A year later the joint venture company rolled out its first motorcycle – CD 100.

Business operations

Two years after its launch, Hero Honda CD 100 clocked production of 1 lakh units. The company Hero Honda launched the Splendor in 1994, which in years to come became an iconic product.

In 1997, the company inaugurated its second manufacturing unit in Haryana's Gurgaon after its Dharuhera plant.

With the launch of CBZ in 1999 Hero Honda made entry into the 150cc segment. In 2003, it launched Hero Honda Karizma, the industry's first 223cc motorcycle.

The company inaugurated its manufacturing unit in Uttarakhand's Haridwar in 2008.

The year 2011 came with a major turning point in the Hero Honda's journey. With a new licensing agreement between Hero and Honda, the company was renamed solely as Hero. With the name change, Hero introduced a refreshed version of its Glamour, CBZ Xtreme, Karizma and Glamour Fi motorcycles. The company crossed the figure of 5 million sales in a single year.

In 2012, all Hero products migrated to the new brand name. The company inaugurated the Neemrana facility and a global parts centre in 2014. It also started commercial production at its new facilities in Gujarat and Bangladesh.

The company launched an e-commerce platform for genuine parts of its product in the Indian market. Hero made an entry into the adventure motorcycle space with the launch of XPulse.

In 2020, Hero took its shares in electric vehicle manufacturer Ather Energy to over 34 %. The same year, the company signed a distribution agreement with Harley-Davidson under which it would sell and service H-D motorcycles and sell parts and accessories and general merchandise riding gear and apparel in India.

Starting in 2021, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. became the distributor for Harley-Davidson in India. The company also launched a new brand `Vida'-Powered by Hero, an in-house electric vehicle brand.

As of December 27, 2023, Hero MotoCorp Ltd's market capitalisation stood at over ₹ 81,000 crore. Hero MotoCorp's share price has grown by over 32% in the last three years.

Financial highlights

• Hero MotoCorp's revenue from operations grew to ₹34,158 crore in 2022-23.
• It reported a net profit of ₹2,799.9 crore in FY 2023, a strong jump from ₹2,329.05 crore in the previous year.
• Hero’s EBITDA (earning before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) in FY 2023 was ₹ 3986 crore as compared to ₹3,369 in the previous year.
• Net profit of the company stood at ₹2,911 crore in FY23 as against ₹2,473 crore in FY22.
• Earnings per share stood at ₹146 in FY23 as against ₹124 in FY22.