Hero MotoCorp, which has lorded over the traditional two-wheeler market for decades, is yet to crack the battery-driven scooter market, which it entered last year.
However, the company is unfazed and claims it will gain a sizeable market share as it introduces products and services in the electric two-wheeler segment and the government phases out the financial support it provides to encourage sales.
“There’ll be more players probably coming in, (and) those which have to consolidate and fold back. The next three years will see a churn in this segment, because, subsidies also cannot continue forever,” Niranjan Gupta, chief executive officer of Hero MotoCorp, told reporters.
Ola Electric, Ather, and others led India’s electric two-wheeler (E2W) market last year, with sales of 858,936 units. Hero’s Vida electric scooter registered sales of 11,139 units – a 1.29 percent market share.
As per government data, Ola Electric sold 266,867 units (31 percent) during 2023 and was the market leader in the E2W space, followed by TVS Motor Company with 166,502 units. Ather Energy, which sold 104,609 units, came third, followed by Bajaj Auto at 71,898 units and Greaves Cotton-owned Ampere Electric at 42,891 units.
Game just started
Gupta said competition in the electric scooter market is like a marathon and not a 100-metre sprint and those leading at the start would seldom turn out to be winners.
“I'm not worried at all (by our competitors’ volumes). EV is that race where we do things rightly and what are we doing? We are ensuring that all infrastructure is built. I talked about the stores, charging infrastructure, the Ather tie-up, creating the maximum footprint of charging seamlessly, where customers can charge at Ather stations (or) our stations – the product has been built accordingly,” Gupta said.
He said Hero MotoCorp plans to introduce three electric two-wheeler models in the next year – one in the mid-price segment, one in the economy segment, and one in the B2B last-mile delivery segment.
“The game in EVs has just started. (So we are) not worried at all. The more players, the more competition, the more innovation will happen. And it's good for the country as well,” Gupta added. “We should not look at just selling in India, we should look at how India can sell EVs to the world.”
Analysts reckon that it won’t be so quick for Hero MotoCorp unless the company comes up with disruptive products.
“Although Hero MotoCorp has the advantage of a wider distribution network, it would be difficult for the company to be among the top three players because their product is slightly pricey currently. If it launches the right product at competitive pricing, it can even disrupt the market,” said an analyst, requesting anonymity.
Hero MotoCorp is also working on electric motorcycles, which are priced in the range of Rs 4-7 lakh, in close collaboration with California-based Zero Motorcycles. However, Gupta maintained that it will take some time as the market for battery-driven motorcycles is still unaffordable and is still evolving.
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