Over the past few months, the electric two-wheeler market has seen fluctuations, from surpassing the 100,000 sales mark in July to stabilizing around the mid-80,000s. In a volatile last quarter, Ola Electric, a frontrunner in the EV two-wheeler segment, experienced a 27 percent drop in market share. Despite this, it remains the top company, although its monthly sales fell from an average of around 30,000 units to 23,965 units in September. Last month’s significant player was Bajaj Auto, which overtook TVS Motor for the second spot by selling 18,933 Chetak units, compared to TVS’s 17,865 iQube units.
Why is Ola Electric losing its grip over the market?
Two major factors are contributing to the rapid decline of Ola Electric’s market lead. Firstly, competitors have begun to align more closely with market demands, resulting in Ola Electric’s sales figures dwindling significantly compared to those of its closest competitors, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor. For the second consecutive month, Ola Electric has been unable to halt this downward trend. This competitive pressure led Bajaj and TVS to launch more affordable variants of their Chetak and iQube models, priced around Rs 95,000, this year. Secondly, the substandard performance of Ola service centers is a concern. Unlike Ola, the two established companies boast a robust service network and do not experience issues such as long queues of scooters outside their centers. Last month, customer dissatisfaction with Ola reached a new peak when a disgruntled scooter owner set fire to a showroom in Karnataka.
2-wheeler EV: Winners and Losers
The last quarter commenced on a high note with Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Bajaj Auto, Ather Energy, and Hero MotoCorp registering sales of 40,814, 19,444, 17,665, 10,157, and 4,945 units in July 2024, respectively. Since then, except for Ola, TVS and Hero have seen a slight decline. Notably, Bajaj Auto has experienced a growth of 2,283 units from August to September, surpassing its closest competitor, TVS iQube, for the first time. Ather Energy has also increased its monthly sales from 10,919 units in August to 12,579 in September, marking a growth of 1,660 units. Although Hero MotoCorp joined the 2W EV market later than others, its Vida brand has consistently sold over 4,000 units in the last quarter.
