The big money behind Erik Buell Racing’s AMA Superbike campaign for 2012 was revealed this morning when it was announced by India’s leading motorcycle manufacturer Hero MotoCorp that the company had signed a partnership agreement with the American racing concern. In exchange for title sponsorship of the two-pronged racing effort by Erik Buell Racing—the Team Hero squad with rider Danny Eslick and the Team Amsoil Hero crew supporting rider Geoff May—the Indian manufacturer “will receive support in terms of cutting-edge technology and design to develop future models (for Hero MotoCorp) from EBR," according to the firm’s press release.
Hero MotoCorp is by far the largest motorcycle manufacturer in India, selling a reputed 1.5 million units during its first fiscal quarter of 2012. In a market that continues to grow at a dizzying double-digit rate, Hero has continued to maintain its status atop the food chain in India, despite recently dissolving a 27-year joint venture with Honda Motor Company (which ironically was partially the result of a dispute over how much technology Honda was actually sharing with Hero) that helped fuel its rapid growth. The Indian motorcycle market is dominated by small displacement (200cc and less) bikes, mostly driven by the same socio-economic factors (poor public transportation infrastructure, urban crowding, rising middle-class financial means, etc.) that have made China and Southeast Asia similar two-wheeled monster-growth markets in recent years.