The festive season always marks a good omen for something new. So here I am with my new column Power Turks in conversation with the captains of India Inc. It's almost as if optimism makes a return just before winter sets in. Perhaps it's the light and sounds of Diwali. I had a chance to catch up with the chairman of a group that marks its yearly growth milestone around this time. Pawan Munjal and I are catching up on the sidelines of the Hero Women's Indian Open, an event for top global female golfers. He is wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Our conversation is a few weeks before his father, Brij Mohan Munjal, passed away, a business legend who created the Hero Group and left his son many valuable lessons. Pawan Munjal is the torch bearer of Hero group's many global ambitions now just like his dad was when the family moved into manufacturing from a traditional vegetables business in mid 1900s. Brijmohan Lall's vision took the business from making handle bars and cycle chains in 1950s to India's larger manufacturer of bikes and cycles.
Most of my meetings with Pawan Munjal are at the golf course. But this time golf is not all we are talking about. Munjal is upbeat about business as Hero has just expanded their scooter portfolio with new launches. The second half of the year is seeing a rev up in sales and that's turning him optimistic. "The quarter saw the beginning of a sales revival and we're cautiously optimistic this trend will continue in the second half of the financial year," says Munjal. Hero beat estimates in their latest quarterly results with tweaks and controls on several counts giving investors hope that better times were ahead. What possibly brings Munjal comfort is the tight watch on costs, which were further helped by the low raw material prices. No doubt this could buoy the pick-up in the market. "The festive season could lead to positive sentiment in the market, which may help maintain the momentum in the coming months," he says.
Munjal has always been quick to spot trends. At this moment, scooters is a growing segment and Hero has launched two new ones in quick succession to capture mindspace during the festive season. "We have now expanded our scooter portfolio with the launch of the new scooter Duet. The Duet and Maestro Edge scooters – the first of the products developed by our own in-house R&D team – mark a significant step in Hero's journey." The segment is delivering double digital growth for the company and Munjal is clear that 'this is an area where we will look for leadership.'
The group is evolving, getting younger and more global. In the last one year they have moved into new markets such as Bangladesh and Colombia. With an aim to have 100 million customers by the year 2020, Munjal's aim is to cover Asia, Africa, Central and South America and double their country presence from 24 to 50. Munjal believes his company's ready to build on a global positioning given the interest in two-wheelers. There has been a comeback world over in retro, new and youthful bikes and scooters and that's driving the demand for them. Scooters as once again cool. Munjal is clear that Hero will be a younger and more global brand. Part of this effort is to strengthen R&D, for which Munjal set up a centre in Jaipur that's getting ready to feed market intelligence, innovation into their products. Being tech-driven is second skin to any vehicle maker and Munjal recognises this. Whatever the growth rates of the future, one thing is certain that for being ahead of the curve, and retaining market leadership Hero will look at getting a good balance of domestic & global, traditional & new generation demand and keep a pulse on competition.
