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Hero HX 250R Comes to Europe

Hero has filed a trademark request for the HX 250R name, and this means we are definitely getting it in Europe. The European Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) mentions the trademark number 013095716 owned by Hero Motocorp Ltd, filed on July 18 2014. The registering process is currently underway, with the application examined and published and being now subject to opposition. The end of the opposition period is the 1st of December this year.
Hero HX 250R 2 photos
Photo: Hero
Hero HX 250R
We mentioned more than once about Hero Motocorp’s plans to penetrate new markets which pose a very good potential, but for an Indian manufacturer to make such steps by its own in strong areas such as Europe and North America, this was only a dream. Until…

Erik Buell Racing is the key to new markets

If anything, Indian-designed motorcycles are incapable of posing a real market threat to the European and Japanese machines. Truth be told, India is still a bit behind these two areas, but things are definitely about to change. Hero has acquired a minority in EBR (Erik Buell Racing) and will now benefit a lot from both the racey sonority of the Buell name and will also be capable to take the next step in development and design.

The tie-up between EBR and Hero involves the former helping the latter with modern design support and sharing race-derived technologies. This means that Hero has a great advantage over its local competition, but the good things don’t stop here.

With the money they got from hero, Erik Buell Racing will also be able to develop new bikes and expand its dealer network, one of the major missing things in the past. Even more, EBR has crossed the pond in Europe and established what is hoped it will become a very strong foothold in the Netherlands, with future ramifications in other EU countries soon.

Ride in the wake of EBR

It doesn’t take a marketing genius to figure out how crucial the growing presence of EBR in all markets is for Hero. The Indian bikes will now be much easier to introduce in the markets where Erik Buell Racing is already present, and joint efforts to penetrate new ones will definitely make things even easier.

Some say that the smaller Hero bikes which are built with massive technology “implants” from Buell might even be branded as EBR in certain markets, helping the dealers push them faster and boosting the customers’ trust in an American-badged bike. A triple-win situation, in case the small Hero machines will prove to be a dependable and affordable one.

The HX 250R

So, what should we expect? The HX 250R is a new bike Hero plans to sell both in the Indian/ Asian and western markets. It will face a very tough competition, with two major points. First off, the quarter-liter class is slowly drifting upwards, with Kawasaki and Honda having already revealed 300cc-class bikes, and Yamaha expected to do so too, possibly with its long-awaited R3. On the other hand, the rest of the makers have all a sure-footed presence in this segment and Hero/ EBR will have to come up with some really good selling points to make a difference.

The Hero HX 250R is said to be a 31 hp machine which can deliver 19 lb-ft (25.8 Nm) of torque. Such figures already put it on par with the CBR300R, so pricing, reliability and servicing can make a big difference, especially as in certain markets, the small CBR is anything but cheap. Add in a claimed lighter package and the modern EBR-coordinated design and we might just be looking at a really fancy bike.

Putting a sporty yet versatile 6-speed transmission, EFI, liquid-cooling and ABS in the HX 250R package will make the bike even more attractive to both young riders and guys looking for a more economical commuting solution.

Now, the Hero HX 250R will most likely make it in Europe in the spring of 2015 or even later, as it looks like EBR’s European sales network will first have to be established to a decent level before such moves are made. We might just see the Hero HX 250R at the 2014 EICMA soon and we’ll report on how is feels and looks up-close.
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