The story of India’s ambitious transition to electric vehicles, which is being led by two- and three-wheeler segments seems to now be facing challenges or is it just a temporary blip?
In fact, the first month of the new fiscal 2023-24 has started on a negative note, with the overall industry volumes down 41 percent. The total wholesales for April came at 55,109 units, compared to 93,599 electric two-wheelers sold for the same period last year.
Ola Electric continues to top the charts in terms of unit sales, the company sold 21,882 units, compared to 12,708 units for the same period last year. It now commands 40 percent market share in the electric two-wheeler segment.
Greaves Cotton-owned Ampere Vehicles also more than doubled its market share with sales of 8,318 electric scooters, registering a growth of 27 percent YoY.
Closely following behind Bengaluru-based Ather Energy continues to take a sustainable growth plan, selling 7,746 electric scooters and increasing its market share from 3 percent a year ago to 14 percent.
Market leaders once upon a time, Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech who have been accused of ‘misappropriation of FAME 2 subsidy’ are now struggling to capitalise on the market growth. The company sold 3,331 and 3,216 units respectively. This translates to degrowth of 49 percent and 71 percent respectively. According to a report by BNP Paribas, the fall in electric two-wheeler sales was “mainly due to seasonality and the transition to the new battery norm.”
To understand the FAME 2 controversy you can read the whole story here.
While there has been no official announcement, media reports suggest that Hero Electric and Okinawa have been asked by the government to pay Rs 200 crore wrongly claimed as a subsidy.
They are being fined for allegedly not meeting the localisation norms laid down by the Ministry of Heavy Industries to meet the FAME 2 norms.
It is also important to note that while the subsidies are passed on by the OEMs to the consumers, multiple EV makers Financial Express spoke to revealed that they have not received the FAME 2 subsidies from the government since last year. This has led to their working capital getting affected, which could have resulted the OEMs going slow on retail sales.
The report further states that while TVS lost the most due to supply chain issues to meet the new norms, Ola benefited from recent price cuts as well as promptly getting its models certified and transitioned into its supply chain. In terms of state-wise performance, Gujarat (6%) was the only state to register a month-on-month growth, while volumes in all other states declined due to a high base in March. It finds that Ola S1 Air’s delivery, starting in July, and Honda launching two e2W models in FY2024 are the next positive catalysts for E2W sales and mix.
| ELECTRIC TWO-WHEELER SALES IN INDIA | ||||||
| Apr ’23 | Apr ’22 | Change (in units) | Change (in %) | Market Share (Apr ’23) | Market Share (Apr ’22) | |
| Ola Electric | 21,882 | 12,708 | 9,174 | 72% | 40% | 14% |
| Ampere Vehicles | 8,318 | 6,540 | 1,778 | 27% | 15% | 7% |
| Ather Energy | 7,746 | 2,451 | 5,295 | 216% | 14% | 3% |
| Hero Electric | 3,331 | 6,578 | -3,247 | -49% | 6% | 7% |
| Okinawa Autotech | 3,216 | 11,010 | -7,794 | -71% | 6% | 12% |
| Okaya | 1,562 | 0 | 1,562 | 0% | 3% | 0% |
| Chetak Technology | 370 | 0 | 370 | NA | 1% | 0% |
| Others | 8,684 | 54,312 | -45,628 | 0% | 16% | 58% |
| Total | 55,109 | 93,599 | -38,490 | -41% | 100% | 100% |
