An Economic Times report states that Hero MotoCorp will display a 250 cc bike at the upcoming 2014 Auto Expo. The bike is likely to be developed with Hero's technology partner Erik Buell Racing (EBR).
At present, the 225 cc Karizma ZMR is the most powerful bike manufactured by the Indian company. According to earlier media reports, a bunch of engineers from Hero's R&D centre in Gurgaon have been positioned at EBR's tech centre in East Troy, Wisconsin, USA.
Reports suggests that only the preliminary R&D for future Heros will be done at EBR's tech centre and that the rest of the development and manufacturing will happen at Hero's facilities.
If launched, the 250 cc bike from the house of Hero MotoCorp will be competing with the likes of the Honda CBR250R and Hyosung GT250R to name a few. A senior Suzuki India official also recently confirmed that the company will launch the GW250 Inazuma in January 2014.
The cheapest 250 cc bike in India, the Honda CBR250R retails for Rs 1.4 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi) for the standard version. If Hero's able to undercut in pricing, given that its candidate would be locally manufactured, it should set the cat among the pigeons.
EBR's racing pedigree and experience should come in handy for Hero MotoCorp's projects as the Indian company seeks to explore new territories. It had also recently announced that it will partner EBR and enter the World Superbike Championship in 2014.
