Hero relaunches itself, sans Japanese major

India's largest two-wheeler company, Hero Honda, formally announced its new brand following its break-up with the Japanese major.  The new Hero MotoCorp logo was launched at London's o2 arena.

Along with the brand relaunch, the company also launched two new products, the Maestro, a "masculine" scooter, and the Impulse, described as an "on-road; off-road" motorcycle.

The company has also roped in Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor as a brand ambassador, and commissioned a new brand anthem from AR Rahman. Pawan Munjal, managing director, Hero MotoCorp also laid out some tentative plans for the company, targeting $10 billion in sales in five years as well as selling 10 million units annually with 10 per cent of sales coming from international markets.

A new global parts plant will be built in Rajasthan, followed by the company's fourth factory in southern India, which would be quickly followed by an export-oriented plant in western India (likely in Gujarat). The company has already identified 30 potential international markets across south-east Asia, Africa and Latin/Central America.