What's draining the juice out of electric two-wheeler makers' battery
Ather, and Bajaj Auto, most e2W manufacturers sold fewer units compared to the same period last year.
Hero Electric sold fewer than 1,000 units in the June quarter, down from 6,000 a year ago, while Okinawa sold just 1,400 units versus 8,000. Ampere did not reach the 500 mark, compared to 19,000 units last year. Even TVS Motor's sales dropped to 30,000 units from 35,000 last year.
Quoting industry watchers, ET Auto said that the outlook for sales remains the same in the current quarter despite the expectations of the rollout of FAME 3. Any uptick is anticipated in the second half of this fiscal year.
“A lot of buying happened in March since the FAME II regime was coming to an end by March 31 and subsidy amounts were lower under the new scheme, which began from April 1. The contraction was largely on expected lines,” an official from an e2W OEM told ET Auto.
Some, however, are optimistic. Uday Narang, Founder of Omega Seiki Mobility, said the slowdown could extend into the first half of the current quarter but «there should be more clarity and numbers will pick up in H2.»
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Kaushik Madhavan, VP & Global Head — Mobility Advisory at MarketsandMarkets, said the sales downtrend in e2Ws «is a very short blip» and the top OEMs are already taking several measures which would aid recovery.
What's causing the slowdown?
According to an official of an OEM whose sales have shrunk, policy
