The Hindu Business Line : Electric scooters: Moving on to the fast track

Although at a nascent stage, the electric scooter segment is hotting up with the entry of scooter majors, new launches and smart marketing initiatives.

Manu P. Toms

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Mumbai, Feb. 15 Fuel price hike is generally not good news for vehicle manufacturers. But a small section of them is not worried and, instead, hopes that it would work to their advantage.

This section constitutes the electric scooter makers, whose cardinal marketing plank is that users of these vehicles need not worry about rising oil prices. Although at a nascent stage at present, the electric scooter segment is hotting up with the entry of scooter majors, new launches and smart marketing initiatives.

Following TVS’ launch of its first electric scooter, Kinetic is entering the field with three electric variants. Hero Ultra, one of the existing major players, is adding three more to its portfolio. And Indus Elec-Trans, which dominates 70 per cent of the e-scooter market with its seven models, is expanding its dealer network.

“Fuel price has a direct correlation with e-scooter sales. The overall economic progress and growing environmental concern are other factors. It has a market potential to grow up to 15 lakh units in five years,” said Mr Abhijit Bose, General Manager, Indus Elec-Trans.

The growing market for e-scooters in India is an echo of the global trends. “Emission concerns have prompted some countries to ban gasoline-run two-wheelers in certain areas. This, in turn, has led to a spurt in electric scooter sales,” said Ms Sulajja Motwani, Managing Director, Kinetic Motors. The company is soon launching three battery-run scooters in the 250-1,000 watt range.

Mr Deba Ghosal, Director (Marketing) of Hero Ultra, predicts that about 1.2 lakh e-scooters will be sold this fiscal. “This would account for about 10 per cent of the total two-wheeler sales and grow to 20 per cent at 3 lakh units next year,” he pointed out. The company is launching three more variants in 25, 40 and 70 kilometre-per-hour ranges this calendar year.

“This is the seeding year for the e-scooter segment. The companies are now building up an all-India presence. For our part, we have identified 71 towns with 5-lakh plus population where we can sell our models,” he said.

Given its energy efficient, emission-free advantage, the segment should get some duty cuts, Mr Ghosal hoped.