Hero Electric takes Hero Moto to court over brand

CHENNAI: Just over a decade after the different factions of the Munjal family hammered out a settlement of its various businesses, growing interest in electric vehicles has landed two sections of the family in a legal tangle.
Vijay Munjal and his son Naveen Munjal, who own Hero Electric, have taken cousin Pawan Munjal, CMD of two-wheeler market leader Hero MotoCorp, to court. The point of contention - the use of the Hero brand name for Hero MotoCorp's soon-to-debut electric vehicle range.Vijay and Naveen Munjal's Hero Electric has been in the EV business for 15 years but since EVs were not top of the mind as a business segment until now, the branding issue did not crop up before, said sources. With Hero MotoCorp getting into the EV segment in March this year, Vijay-Naveen Munjal are claiming exclusive use of the brand name in the EV space.
"Now that EVs are red hot, suddenly the use of the Hero name has become a brand issue," said a source close to the matter. "At the end of the day, the core brand is Hero and not Hero Electric so products from competing companies will face a challenge."
When contacted Naveen Munjal refused to comment on the matter since it is sub-judice. A Hero MotoCorp spokesperson also refused to comment. Sources said there has been no out-of-court dialogue initiated between the two factions. "There has been no discussion on this for the last 10 years because earlier no one was interested in getting into the EV segment," said the source.