For years, The recently launched family-focused Rizta electric scooter seems to be doing wonders for Ather Energy – the Bangalore-based electric vehicle maker best known for its 450 range of sporty and reliable electric scooters. Ather’s market share has gone up by nearly 50 % following the launch of the Rizta, which has clocked over 50,000 bookings.
Ather Energy’s market share in the hotly competitive electric scooter space stood at 9.5 % in July 2024, improving to 14.1 % in September 2024. In terms of volumes, July 2024 numbers for Ather stood at 10,211 units, sharply rising to 12,671 units in September 2024, again a rise of nearly 25 %.
Key change? Rizta deliveries commenced in July 2024, and are said to be the reason for the sharp increase in sales and market share numbers.
Ather Up, Ola Down!
While the launch of the Rizta family electric scooter saw Ather Energy’s numbers pick up significantly, the same period saw India’s largest electric scooter maker – Ola Electric – seeing a steep decline in volumes. This, despite heavy discounting and the commencement of customer deliveries of the new, low cost S1 X electric scooter beginning May 2024.
In July 2024, Ola Electric clocked sales of 41,780 units, corresponding to a marketshare of 38.8 %. By September 2024, Ola Electric’s volumes had fallen off a cliff, with the electric scooter maker’s monthly volume at 24,615 units, and marketshare at 27.4 %. In terms of sales, Ola’s numbers represent an alarming 40 % drop.
What’s going wrong for Ola Electric?
On a cursory reading, it seems like concerns over Ola Electric scooters’ reliability is causing lack of trust among prospective customers. The electric scooter maker registered over 80,000 complaints in a single month, resulting in widespread media coverage. Angry customers have taken to social media outlets, expressing frustration and disappointment over stalled repairs and part shortages.
Ola Electric, for its part, has unveiled an ambitious service initiative, enlisting independent mechanics to clear the backlog of under-repair Ola electric scooters, and also to build service capacity for fresh scooters that may be coming in for routine maintenance and repairs. On how this pans out is something we’ll have to wait and watch for in the coming months.
Who else is gaining?
Legacy two wheeler giants Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors have been making steady gains over the past few months, and put together have overtaken Ola Electric in sheer monthly numbers. If Ola Electric’s sales and service woes continue, it’s just a matter of time before TVS Motor – with the iQube – and Bajaj Auto – with the Chetak – manage to overtake Ola Electric and even possibly build a sales lead of sorts. For instance, in September 2024, Bajaj Auto sold 19,096 electric scooters, while TVS Motors managed 18,073 electric scooters. Ola Electric sold 24,615 electric scooters. Bajaj and TVS combined sold over 37,000 electric scooters in the same month.
A note about the Ather Rizta
Ather Energy shifted gears earlier this year, by launching the Rizta – a scooter that was meant to appeal to a wider set of buyers including those looking for a family scooter. Priced Rs. 30,000 lower than the Ather 450 range with a starting price of Rs. 1.12 lakh, the Rizta was built to a budget, with lower peak power rating and top speed. Clearly, this formula seems to have takers, and Ather Energy’s deep engineering depth and ability to deliver high quality, trouble-free electric scooters is impressing buyers.
The post Rizta Powers Ather Volumes And Boosts Electric Scooter Maker’s Marketshare By Nearly 50 % first appeared on Cartoq.
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