Electric two wheelers: TVS, Bajaj rule, Ather climbs as consumers prefer credibility, servicing network

Time of India

3 days ago

India's electric two wheelers (e2w) market is shifting, as the consumer has begun prioritising brand credibility; physical sales network (which allows touching and driving the product) over buying online; and servicing capability and warranty commitment of OEMs. And this mature e2w customer has forged a marked shift away from the hyped, first mover OEMs, which touted online sales and lack of physical dealerships as key brand attributes all the while.
A look at the July sales numbers through vahan data shows legacy players, TVS Motor Co and Bajaj Auto, are now well entrenched as leaders, together controlling more than 40 per cent of the market.
Ola Electric
, the erstwhile numero uno, languishes at a distant number three with about 17 per cent market share while
Ather
Energy has quietly gained some foothold to reach close to 16 per cent share.
So while fiscal 2025 was about legacy OEMs stealing a march over electric-first companies due to their distribution strength and pricing power, the game hereon could well be intense play between the two electric-first manufacturers for the third position.
Vahan data shows that sales of e2w (as on date) in July contracted by about 12 per cent to 89,084 units (101,467 units), possibly due to falling purchase subsidies by the government and the overall decline in vehicle sales due to macro economic factors. Ather sold over 14000 units versus Ola's just over 15000 units - perhaps the narrowest sales gap ever. Bajaj sold well over 17,000 units while market leader TVS was inching close to the 20,000 unit mark.
Read more: Ather closing in on Ola Electric in July EV sales
But will the new pecking order go for a toss, given the severe impact which the shortage of rare earth magnets is expected to have on e2w production from August? Bajaj Auto has already spoken about severe shortage crippling production and dealers have also spoken about significant production cuts at TVS. Ola may not be impacted much, given its in-house supply of these magnets and Ather also seems to have some inventory.
A former e2w dealer said that the market growth is anyway slowing down due to continuous decline in purchase subsidies from the government - from a peak of up to ₹30,000 per vehicle the amount is down to just ₹5000 now in some cases - and consumers would rather spend ₹1.2-1.3 lakh on ICE two wheelers than on e2w.
'The customers still do not see electric as their first option, they view it as a second vehicle. Rising cost of acquisition will not help industry growth,' this dealer said.
Meanwhile, the steady increase in Ather Energy's market share is being attributed to the scooter Rizta being positioned firmly in the premium end of the market (which is witnessing growth) and the consumer perception about brand reliability. Ramnath E, Team Lead (Automotive Advisory) at MarketsandMarkets, pointed out that 'The Rizta was initially priced high and it also took time for people to understand that Ather is engineered for India, unlike some other brands. Now, the company is seen as reliable and is also increasing its dealerships in tier II and tier III cities'.
Co-founder and CEO
Tarun Mehta
had said last year that the company would adopt a segment-by-segment approach in quest for market share. 'It will be stupid to say that Ather is not aspiring for market leadership but it is still too early to talk of leadership…We want to go segment by segment in the
electric two wheeler
industry,' Mehta had said. On the pricing action which led to a scramble for sub-one lakh rupee products last year as legacy players brought in products with stripped down battery and other features, Mehta had said that Ather was 'not interested' in products priced below the one lakh rupee mark.
'Price driven growth has anyway been a small portion of overall growth, much of our growth in recent months has come because of portfolio expansion, not pricing,' he had said, referring to entry into the mass market family scooter segment with Rizta. Obviously, positioning Rizta as a premium product and slowly ramping up distribution while emphasising on product quality has helped Ather in recent months.
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As for Ola's market share struggles, CMD Bhavish Aggarwal has spoken about consolidation after a growth phase in the e2w industry.
'We have, over the last couple of quarters, transitioned our strategy from aggressive penetration, to a more balanced profitable growth strategy. And given where the industry also is, after the initial hyper growth phase, industry is steady and consolidating and there will be another growth phase in the near future. But till then, it's time for players to actually consolidate their operations. And we believe we have a very strong competitive advantage in consolidating our approach to profitable growth,' he told analysts after the June quarter results.
Amid all the market share moves at the top, however, a smaller player has also inched upwards. Hero MotoCorp sold close to 9,000 units of the VIDA in July, its highest number in a single month since at least the start of the calendar year. Some of the sales bump could be due to the new VIDA X2, which comes with BaaS, removable batteries which can be charged at home.
Deepesh Rathore
, founder and head of research at InsightEV, pointed out that the batteries in the new VIDA variant are not owned by the consumer but on monthly lease and this means 'the acquisition cost of the scooter comes down'. But unlike the battery swapping option being provided by Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) for its electric Activa model, battery life is consumer's business with VIDA.
Hero MotoCorp has been unable to leverage its legacy leadership in ICE two wheeler market to gain any significant share in e2w till now. Ramnath of MarketsandMarkets said that Hero has not advertised the product strongly and the brand also does not have enough physical touchpoints (unlike other legacy players which have numerous experience centers for electric products).
As for HMSI, Rathore said the swappable battery variant of Activa has limited availability as of now and the company is in the process of setting up a swapping network. HMSI sold 360 units as on date in July.