Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy hopes to retail over 9,000 electric scooters this month and beyond, according to Ravneet S Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy.
'Every month from now onwards will see higher numbers and I guarantee a month-on-month increase for at least the next six months,' he told Mobility Outlook.
The company has been posting an increase in sales month-on-month this fiscal with 2,451 units in April 2022 going up to 3,338 in May, 3,816 in June 2022 followed by a slump to 1,281 in July and then a surge to 5,147 units in August.
Phokela cited the annual maintenance of Ather's production facility for the fall in sales in July. 'There is no secret sauce to how we are performing now. The demand for our electric scooters has always been there. It is just that the semiconductor crisis and supply-chain issues are getting sorted now and we can produce more scooters,' he said.
Phokela also attributed the good showing to the amount of research and testing time being put in now. Ather's customers have taken cumulative rides of over 250 million kms, he added.
'Testing in diverse terrains and weather conditions coupled with different riding styles has helped us a lot. Our offering comes loaded with connected data which allows us to erstand how it performs in different terrains,' he highlighted.
No Scooter Planned For Mass Market
Ather Energy has no immediate plans to launch a scooter for the mass market. 'We keep testing multiple products at the same time and it is not as if we will launch a new product just because we are testing it,' said Phokela.
The company has targeted a presence in 90 cities via 120 touch points/experience centres by March 2023. He reiterated that Ather would not retail products in Hero Motocorp's showrooms and maintain its own identity.
'Our investments in R&D will not be done at the same pace seen in the initial stages. However, the focus will remain on reliability and safety. Quality and consistency have defined Ather so far and will continue to do so in the future as well,” said Phokela.
How Other OEMs Performed
In the overall electric scooter arena, Hero Electric has maintained its lead in August with sales of 10,213 units, up 16.24% from 8,786 sold in July (as per Vahan portal). Okinawa is in second place with 8,245 scooters sold in August, an increase of 1.82% from 8,098 units retailed in July.
Ola Electric saw just 3,397 scooters retailed in August, a fall of 11.83% from 3,853 units in July. However, September is seeing a turnaround with 4,580 scooters registered till now.
Ather, on the other hand, has registered 3,621 electric scooters thus far. It has raised $286.8 million during eight rounds of funding with the last happening in July.
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