Hero MotoCorp looks to Italian engineering for its engines!

So there we have it, what Hero MotoCorp tends to call it's multiple centres of excellence in its endeavour to find meaning in the critical period of life after Honda. Fast-tracking its approach to shore up on technology after its first two well publicised efforts with Erik Buell Racing in the USA and noted Austrian engineering consultancy AVL, Hero MotoCorp surprised no one with its move to engage Italy-based Engines Engineering to help it develop the next generation of small capacity power plants for its all-Hero two-wheeled ambitions.

While the Erik Buell Racing tie-up is of considerable discussion in motorcycling circles globally given the complete contrast in the relevant positioning of both companies, the AVL tie-up was logical and to a certain extent so is it with Engines Engineering. However, this small outfit which packs a sizeable punch has had a hand in helping other Indian two-wheeler manufacturers in the past including LML, TVS and more lately Mahindra 2Wheelers. In fact, Engines Engineering was owned for the better part of a year and a half by Mahindra & Mahindra and it was also mandated to prepare Mahindra 2Wheelers foray in India. For reasons best known to the two parties, Mahindra & Mahindra sold its stake back to Alberto Strazzari, CEO of Engines Engineering and given the lack of traction in the market and the Moto3 racing circuits with Mahindra's bikes developed by Engines Engineering, the parting of ways was always on the cards.

The point to reason is whether in this fast moving technological world, especially where emission legislation is mandating the design and development of new age small capacity motors, does Engines Engineering have the wherewithal to truly deliver? I am intrigued by the wording of the press release from Hero MotoCorp which states and I quote:  "From conception and design right down to styling, on line assembly, industrialisation and marketing, every step is closely followed by the firm", Engines Engineering, that is.

Engines Engineering designed & developed Mahindra's Moto3 challenger,

which has proved woefully slow & incapable of even regular mid-field starts

I think that Honda has already laid down a fantastic production process where industrialisation, material flow, assembly procedures and what have you are already in place and Hero MotoCorp has arguably had the best such to have mentored it in these areas of operation. What Engines Engineering can do to further perfect a flawless system remains to be seen.

The moot point though is all about developing an all new motorcycle or scooter from the ground-up and here lies the biggest challenge for Hero MotoCorp with or without Erik Buell Racing (Read: Hero MotoCorp ties up with Erik Buell Racing), AVL and Engines Engineering combined. I am not saying it cannot be done and while the going will be good, harbouring also on great in the interim near term, the biggest challenge would be around 2014 when Hero's Honda-based bikes would need to be tweaked and in many cases replaced. Whether Hero MotoCorp has the ability to get the desired product development done in a very rapid timeframe is the key because the competition, especially from Honda and also of course Bajaj Auto is hot and relentless and here the lack of an effective new model regime could be telling.

What is also of the essence is the fact that so many times we have seen in this business that just throwing money cannot get one the desired success. And certainly not quick results in R&D. So even while Hero might be sitting on a huge pile of cash and it could throw enough to set up a state-of-the-art R&D set-up in a couple of years, getting it to deliver might take triple or quadruple that same time. And that is if you have good human resources to man the centre, absorb the technology and then make it work to design and deliver bikes from scratch. It is not impossible but certainly is daunting.