The Hero's Journey

One of the most popular drama plots in world literature is the hero's journey. The course Hero MotoCorp has followed since splitting with Honda is as dramatic as any

- By AMRIT RAJ

Fifteen years ago, in December 2010, the Munjal family took everyone by surprise by announcing the end of Hero Group's 27-year marriage with Japan's Honda Motor Co.

For many observers, it sowed the seeds of doubt about the road ahead for Hero.

Hero Honda was not like any other company. It was a cultural institution in the manner of an enduring political figure. Even today, if you ask an elderly woman in rural Uttar Pradesh or Bihar whom she voted for, she might answer, “Indira Gandhi”, as if time froze in her memory.

Similarly, brand Hero got woven so intricately in the fabric of the nation that it became indistinguishable from the landscape. Buying a motorcycle would mean buying a Hero Honda.

Not surprisingly, Hero Honda continued to thrive among the debris of several other joint ventures between Indian companies and multinational corporations that fell apart after the turn of the century. Honda itself walked out of its venture with Pune-based Kinetic and took complete control of its car venture with the Siddharth Shriram Group. But it continued its partnership with the Munjals despite setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India that competed with Hero Honda.

That made the 2010 divorce all the more poignant.

When Bajaj Auto parted ways with Kawasaki, it was the quiet uncoupling of a technology tie-up—there was no equity partnership between them. Bajaj had already discovered its own engineering rhythm with the Pulsar franchise and no longer needed a Japanese technology partner to define its future.

When TVS ended its alliance with Suzuki, it was a mutual release of two engineering-led companies. TVS, fiercely proud of its indigenous capabilities, already possessed the DNA to innovate its way out of dependence.