Electric scooter Chetak of which bookings were halted by Bajaj Auto after an unprecedented surge, is set to see production resuming at its Pune factory soon. Bookings for the model could also reopen in the next few weeks.
Bajaj Auto had to turn down booking requests for the Chetak as the company felt that deliveries would take longer than expected, leading to dissatisfaction in the brand. The Pune-based maker of Pulsar and Avenger launched the Chetak only in Pune and Bengaluru after its January debut.
Talking to Moneycontrol, Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director - Bajaj Auto, said, “Bookings are closed because we got so many of them and our supply chain got interrupted because one component was actually coming from Wuhan, China. So that was a big setback for us.”
Battery cells of all electric vehicles produced in India have to be imported from China. Bajaj does not directly purchase battery packs or cells from the Chinese exporter, but it is one of Bajaj’s vendor partners who imports it for the Chetak, which is also the company’s only electric two-wheeler.
“Now we are resuming production. In fact those components have now arrived at the Mumbai port as we speak and it will reach the factory in a few days and we will resume production shortly. Supplies from China have resumed,” Sharma added.
A decision on reopening bookings for the Chetak will be taken by mid of July also by when the company hopes to have an unhindered supply of all components of the two-wheeler.
“Booking amount is only Rs 1,000 and we would refund it if there is a cancellation but we don’t want the customer to wait endlessly and get frustrated. We want to ensure that there is a continuous supply of components,” added Sharma.
The research and development work and production of other Bajaj products resumed after partial easing of lockdown restrictions however production of Chetak remained suspended. Bajaj has two plants in Maharashtra and one in Uttarakhand.
“Even the sea ports are congested and it is costing time there too. By mid-July we should be able to get a good flow of components and then we will take a call on bookings by then. We had a waiting period of five years for the older Chetak but we don’t want that of this Chetak,” added Sharma.
Priced at Rs 100,000 (ex-showroom) the Bajaj Chetak is one of the most expensive electric two-wheelers available in India and much higher than the most affordable Pulsar, the most popular bike brand by Bajaj priced at Rs 70,000.
Deliveries of the Chetak with six colours and two variants commenced from February-end. Around 13 dealerships in Bengaluru and four dealerships in Pune were earmarked for retailing the two-wheeler.
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