The King of Indian Two-wheelers

The King of Indian Two-wheelers

Early this week we heard about passing away of a legend who geared the Indian two-wheeler sector. I am talking about Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal the founder and chairman of Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world's largest manufacturer of two-wheelers.

 

The King of Indian Two-wheelers - Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal
Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal

Starting his career with Army Ordnance Factory he later came to the city of Ludhiana in India as an immigrant after the partition. Then as a middle-class commoner Dr. Munjal had nothing much with him except focus and dedication in his work, and a hardworking and a polite nature. In the year 1954, Dr. Munjal started his own business of cycle spares-making which later developed into a full-scale cycle manufacturing activity known as Hero Cycles. With Dr. Munjal’s dedication this venture later went on to become so big that by 1986, Hero Cycles entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest manufacturers of bicycles in the world.

Later when the market started to change and scooters and motorcycle took place of cycle as vehicle of common man, Dr. Munjal forayed into the same. Like Hero Cycles this venture of Dr. Munjal too was a huge success. Starting from the year 1984, Hero Group formed a joint venture with Honda Motors of Japan which lasted till the year 2010 when Hero parted ways with Honda which gave birth to an entity known as Hero MotorCorp Ltd.

The King of Indian Two-wheelers - Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal

With the Honda breakup many experts in the industry had predicted a rout of Hero Group. But it was with a special personal bonding of Dr. Munjal with his staffers and dealers that Hero managed to sail through this storm very easily without losing on anything. On the personal front Dr. Munjal – a complete family man, was very close also to his staffers and even dealers, supporting them in their times of crises. It was said that he personally knew most of his staffers and dealers and made a point to attend even many of their family functions. Dr. Munjal had stressed on building a people and family centric organization than just a profit-centric one.

 

Today the company finds a place in esteemed ‘Forbes 200 Most Respected Companies List’ and has the market capitalisation of Rs. 52,442.93 crore. In addition to India, Hero MotoCorp sells products in 21 countries across 4 continents and now plans to enter markets in Europe and North America as well. Since the year 1994 awards and recognition have been coming a big way for Dr. Munjal. For his distinguished contribution in the sphere of trade and industry the Government of India awarded Dr. Munjal with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in the year 2005.

Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal will always be a role model for new entrepreneurs as he would be an example of what a common man can achieve with his dedication, commitment and sheer hardwork.

|| Hari Om ||    || Shriram ||    || Ambadnya ||