E2W race: Ola Electric reclaims driver's seat; TVS, Bajaj stay on its tail

After many months in the back seat, Ola Electric has catapulted to the top slot once again based on registrations in January. However, its incumbent rivals, led by TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Auto, are locked in a head-to-head battle to grab a larger share of the electric two-wheeler sweepstakes.

 

Ola Electric’s twin gamble of offering attractive discounts throughout the month, along with its substantial expansion in distribution (the company claims to have grown from 700 to around 4,000 outlets), has helped it increase its market share to 25.68 per cent in January, with 22,656 registrations. This is a jump from just 18 per cent in December when it had fallen to the third position behind TVS and Bajaj.

 

The company is set to push volumes once again from April this year, not only with the launch of its electric motorcycles — the only top player to do so — but also with the introduction of mass-market electric two-wheelers for the gig economy. These will start at a basement price of just Rs 39,999, a segment where none of the bigger players have ventured directly so far.

 

However, Ola won the leadership position in January by a whisker, as TVS has accelerated and is only 576 vehicles behind Ola’s registrations, with a market share of 25.02 per cent. Overall, registrations remained below the one lakh mark, with 88,215 units recorded in January.

 

Bajaj, which saw a strong run in sales and market share, particularly in the sub-Rs 1 lakh electric scooter segment, saw a marginal dip in market share to 22.8 per cent, with 20,176 registrations in January. In December, it held a 24.9 per cent share. However, Bajaj recently launched new models in the over-Rs 1 lakh segment, where its presence has been smaller. It remains too early to assess the success of these models in ramping up volumes.

 

Clearly, the market has consolidated, with incumbent players TVS and Bajaj commanding the lion’s share of the electric two-wheeler market — collectively close to half, at 48.4 per cent. On the other hand, the two key startups, Ola Electric and Ather Energy, hold 40 per cent, leaving little room for others to establish a foothold.

 

Ather, which is preparing for its maiden initial public offering of $450 million, has been steady, reaching 12,101 registrations in January, translating to a market share of 13.71 per cent.