Nepal General Marketing, a subsidiary of the Jyoti Group and the sole authorised distributor of Hero bikes in Nepal, has announced five-year warranty services on its entire range of two-wheelers.

According to the company, the warranty period for motorcycles is five years or 70,000 km whichever comes earlier. Scooters come with a five-year or 50,000 km warranty. Bike owners are protected against manufacturing defects and other problems during the warranty period.

Dinesh Ratna Bajracharya, manager of the brand promotion division at Nepal General Marketing, said on Thursday that the offer was the first of its kind in the country and that it intended to enhance customer confidence in Hero Motor’s reliability. “After the scheme, we are hopeful that Hero machines will be the first choice of customers as it will help them resell the bike by keeping them in good condition.”  

Bajracharya claimed that Hero was the largest selling two-wheeler in the domestic market with a market share of around 30 percent. According to him, there are more than 40,000 Hero bikes on Nepali roads. “Our bikes have the best mileage, reliability and high resale value. That is why we are ahead in the domestic market,” he said. He added that Hero bikes account for 60 percent of sales in rural areas.  

Similarly, speaking at the announcement of the new warranty plan, Bishal Bhardwaj, country manager for Nepal and Bangladesh, said that the company was also the first to offer the scheme in India. “We launched this kind of innovative strategy in India in April 2013 to remain ahead of our rivals. And now we are launching it in Nepal. We expect the scheme to promote sales by making the bike more reliable among customers.”

He added that they had been partnering with EBR, a motorcycle sport company based in the US, and AVL, an Australian engine design company, to make the Hero the most stylish bike with a powerful engine.

Meanwhile, Aveek Jyoti, chairman of Nepal General Marketing, said, “The year 2013 was not a good year as bike sales dropped 2 percent. But after the scheme, we hope that sales will go up 2-5 percent this year as customers will be enjoying a longer warranty period with various new and stylish models arriving this year.”

The company plans to roll out its upgraded version of the

Super Splendor 125 cc and Splendor Pro 100 cc by February. Currently, it offers 11 models of bikes from the HF Deluxe to Karizma ZMR, priced between Rs 133,500 to Rs 317,000. It also offers one scooty model, Pleasure, in the domestic market.