Initially, Hero Cycles delivers 200 units of “Made in India” electric bikes to Europe.
Hero Cycles has delivered its first batch of “Made in India” electric bikes to Europe, Indian group Hero Motors Company (HMC) said in a statement on Saturday. The first batch of around 200 units was delivered to Germany, the company added. .
The company exported the electric bicycles under the HNF brand from Hero International (HIT).
âThe first HNF brand bicycle built in India landed on European shores. This is a great moment for the company and will demonstrate its ability to disrupt the market in Europe, âsaid Jeff Weiss, CEO of Hero International based in London.
Hero International – the European bicycle and e-bike arm of HMC – said the company aims to achieve organic revenue of up to ⬠300 million by 2025, while adding ⬠200 million in growth inorganic.
âObviously, a big part of the future lies in e-bikes, with sales expected to reach around 15 million units in Europe by 2030. We are confident that Hero is on the way to becoming a market leader. in this segment, by manufacturing high quality products. Electric bikes merging the engineering and design expertise of HNF with the manufacturing capability of Hero, especially with the 100-acre Cycle Valley in Ludhiana, âhe said.
Hero Motors Company added that it has established its digital supply chain company – Hero Supply Chain (HSC) to meet the growing demand for bicycles and e-bikes.
According to Hero Motors, HSC is designed to act as a consolidated purchasing center for HIT and meet the demand from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the EU for supplies from India. Hero’s latest company, Spur, will manufacture key components for the bikes in-house.
Hero International was created to respond to the growing European market by acquiring Avocet Sports in Manchester, UK in 2016. Avocet Sports, later renamed Insync Bikes, is one of the largest bicycle distributors in the UK, with more than 22% of the market share. in the segment of children’s bikes.
In 2019, the European market was drifting more and more towards e-bikes, and the demand for high-tech, lightweight and durable e-bikes for sustainable commuting was increasing. HMC decided to leverage its automotive manufacturing background to embark on high-end electric bicycle manufacturing in India while acquiring HNF Nicolai, a German premium electric bicycle brand, to enter the European market for electric bicycles. electric bikes.
âToday, the bicycle market in India is valued at 0.8 billion euros with 15 million bicycles per year, while the European market is 15 times that of India. The e-bike market, where the growth is located, is valued at 5 billion euros for Europe, 50 times that of India, valued at 0.1 billion euros, âsaid Pankaj M. Munjal , Chairman and CEO of the HMC group.
Hero Cycles, which is part of the Indian group HMC, has a manufacturing capacity of 60 lakh of bicycles per year and a network of factories located in Ludhiana (Punjab), Ghaziabad (UP) and Bihta (Bihar). It also has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka as well as a design center in the UK. He also owns UK-based Avocet Sports, Germany-based HNF, and Firefox Bikes in India.
(With PTI inputs)
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