Bajaj Auto to ride into e-rickshaw segment by end of ongoing fiscal year

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Bajaj Auto is gearing up to enter the domestic e-rickshaw segment by the end of this fiscal to tap a 'sizable opportunity' in a fast-growing but highly unorganised market, according to a top company official.

The company expects to get regulatory clearances towards the end of the ongoing quarter for its e-rickshaw that will enable it to enter the segment which is about 45,000 units a month, Bajaj Auto Executive Director Rakesh Sharma told analysts.

"By the end of this financial year, we also intend to launch a modern 'e-rick', which will set an absolutely new standard in the segment and bring a very high level of satisfaction to both owners and passengers.

The e-rick segment is almost as large as the auto segment and the new e-Rick should generate new business, he said.

When asked for the exact timeline, Sharma said, "We expect to launch the e-rick by the end of this quarter, let's say, by the end of the FY25 fiscal. By the time all the permissions are through, it may just spill over into the first week of April or retails may spill over to the first week of April or they may just commence by the end of March even.

Explaining the rationale behind the move, he said, "It (e-rickshaw) is a sizable opportunity. We don't sell anything in it. Almost 50 per cent of three-wheeled mobility is in the e-rick space, which is in the north and east, little parts of west.

He further said, "Almost 45,000 e-ricks are retailed every month and they come in various shapes and sizes. It's a very fragmented market. A lot of it is import-dependent. A lot of it is a substandard product but it's a very good format for certain use cases.

Stressing that the demand is there, Sharma said, "By introducing our e-rick, we hope to organise this market and bring in fresh new business for us. I guess we will start to see a real scale-up in the first quarter of the new fiscal."  On the company's electric scooter Chetak, he said Bajaj Auto expects to increase market share in the electric two-wheeler segment on the back of the newly introduced '35 platform' that provides a "higher range, advanced displays, faster charging and best-in-class boot space".

"This already introduced two variants should make a strong play for higher market share in the upper half of this EV segment where our presence has been relatively weak. The new series will also have a very positive impact on the bottom line, too," Sharma said.

Sharma further said, "A major swing into the profitability zone will be achieved in Q4 as the 35-Series acquires scale beginning February."  The combination of the new platform, which will be further expanded in this quarter, and the continually expanding exclusive stores currently over 250 and wider distribution to over 3,000 sales points will continue to drive the business towards a stronger leadership position and on a profitable basis, he said.