Legacy two wheeler giants TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto are closing in on upstart Ola Electrical. In November 2024, Ola Electrical managed to promote 29,191 electrical scooter whereas TVS Motors managed 26,971 models, and Bajaj Auto did 26,163 models.
All three electrical two wheeler makes skilled a drop in month-on-month gross sales – fairly comprehensible given the truth that the nice Indian festive season has come to an finish. Nevertheless, Ola Electrical has seen the sharpest dip in gross sales, dipping over 30 % whereas TVS and Bajaj Auto have seen extra average gross sales dips of 10 % and eight %.
Worryingly for Ola Electrical, market share has dipped to 24 % in November 2024, a large dip from the 33 % share it held in the identical month final 12 months. Whole gross sales for the 12 months proceed to outpace rivals. Ola has offered practically 3.94 lakh scooters this 12 months, a 66 % enhance in quantity from the primary eleven months of final 12 months. TVS has managed 2.02 lakh models till November 2024, representing 32 % progress, whereas Bajaj Auto has moved practically 1.75 Chetak Electrical scooters, a whopping 184 % gross sales progress.
Be careful for Bajaj And TVS Motors
Whereas Ola Electrical has a powerful product portfolio that spans throughout budgets, from as little as Rs. 49,000, TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto have managed to slim down the lead. TVS is simply 2,000 scooters away from overtaking Ola, and Bajaj is nearly 3,000 scooters away. The competitors between TVS and Bajaj is sort of intense now – solely 808 scooters separated them, and if Bajaj continues the gross sales momentum, it may quickly overtake not simply TVS Motors but in addition Ola Electrical. The battle strains are drawn, and the legacy gamers are closing in on Ola, in an enormous method!
All this with nearly 1 electrical scooter every
Whereas TVS Motors sells the iQube, Bajaj has the Chetak Electrical. In comparison with Ola, each TVS and Bajaj are counting on the engineering energy of their choices moderately than steep discounting and a number of new launches. Whereas Ola has been launching a minimum of one new scooter or variant each six months, each TVS and Bajaj have practically had no main launches save for the occasional new variant.
For example, Bajaj introduced within the Chetak 2901 earlier this 12 months, giving clients a sub-1 lakh rupee electrical scooter. Other than this although, Bajaj has been very conservative, selecting to concentrate on solely 2 different variants – Chetak Premium and Chetak Urbane. All three scooters are roughly variants of one another than all-new fashions. Basically, with a single product, Bajaj has managed to come back inside hanging distance of Ola Electrical. And it’s not even that Bajaj is leveraging its current dealership community.
In reality, Bajaj spun off its electrical two wheeler enterprise because the Chetak model, beneath whose namesake there are EV solely dealerships. Bajaj Auto is increasing Chetak dealerships steadily and that is including gross sales momentum. Bajaj can also be promoting one other variant of the Chetak – referred to as 3202 – by Amazon. So, now we have a legacy participant utilizing each on-line and offline channels to push gross sales.
Coming to TVS Motors now, the story is analogous. The corporate has a single electrical scooter – the iQube – however with a number of battery capacities. The iQube, S and ST variants characteristic battery capacities of two.2 kWh, 3.4 kWh and 5.1 kWh respectively. The highest-end ST mannequin will get two battery pack choices – 3.4 kWh and 5.1 kWh, and with the larger battery pack, has a shocking real-world vary of 150 kilometers, which is the very best that any electrical scooter manages in India presently. TVS Motors will introduce a model new electrical scooter earlier than March of 2025. That ought to give it extra numbers to problem Ola and Bajaj for market supremacy.
Ola’s getting ready to struggle again
Ola, for its half, simply launched the Gig vary of final mile electrical scooters, aimed primarily at Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Blinkit and different gig employees. Ola additionally launched the S1Z, it’s least priced electrical scooter final month. Deliveries of those scooters will begin from March 2025. Plotting a struggle again, Ola can also be all set to introduce the Gen3 variations of the S1 vary of scooters early subsequent 12 months.
Ola Roadster coming!
So, the battle strains are clearly drawn. Whereas TVS and Bajaj take the ‘sluggish and regular’ strategy to rising the market – an strategy that clearly appears to be working – Ola is planning one more shock-and-awe blitz. Ola Electrical’s subsequent huge factor is the Roadster vary of electrical bikes that promise to usher in a degree of efficiency and vary by no means seen earlier than within the Indian electrical two wheeler area. Deliveries of the Roadster are slated to begin from March 2025, and bookings are already open.
Ola plans to launch 3 new electrical bikes beneath the Roadster franchise. The primary would be the Roadster, priced at simply 1.04 lakh. The Roadster will supply 248 kilometers of licensed vary (which implies about 150 kilometers of actual world vary), AI options, a 126 Kmph prime velocity and peppy acceleration – stuff that’s anticipated to blow commuter bikes from TVS, Bajaj, Honda and Hero MotoCorp out of the water, actually.
This may very well be one more disruptive second from Ola – one which adjustments the Indian commuter two wheeler segments eternally. There are extra inexpensive commuter bikes coming in as properly – beneath the Roadster X line. And eventually, the Roadster Professional will take purpose at 250-400cc bikes. All in all, Ola’s ambitions appear outsized, and it’ll fascinating to see how this product blitz pans out in the true world.
Circling again to electrical two wheelers, #4 and #5 locations available in the market are taken up by Ather Power and Hero Vida. Ather – on the again of the Rizta household scooter’s launch – managed to 1.15 lakh models for the primary 11 months of 2024, a really modest 15 % gross sales progress. Take the Rizta out, and Ather nearly appears scuffling with Ola practically promoting over 4 occasions as a lot.
Vida, a brand new electrical sub-brand from Hero MotoCorp, which has plenty of engineering influences from Ather (Bear in mind Hero owns a big stake in Ather Power), managed 42,625 models within the first 11 months of 2024, a whopping 347 % gross sales progress. And all this with a single product providing. The important thing to Vida’s gross sales progress has to do with community enlargement. Because the Vida model expands to extra cities and cities throughout India, anticipate gross sales to develop fairly considerably. Vida plans to launch extra electrical scooters very quickly, and this could add to the gross sales momentum.
All in all, the Indian electrical scooter section is increasing by leaps and bounds, and it’s solely a matter of time earlier than the commuter two wheeler area is overrun by electrical automobiles. Why not, they’re a lot more economical if ridden 30-40 Kms a day, and clearly problem free, quiet and peppy. With scooter large Honda additionally bringing within the Activa Electrical (launched earlier this week), issues are actually heating up on this area.
The submit Electrical Scooter Gross sales: Ola Electrical Maintains A Slim Lead Over TVS Motors And Bajaj After November 2024 first appeared on Cartoq.
