Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

Bangalore based electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy is panning to expand its production and distribution capacity 12 times over. The company also plans to launch new products that include an all electric motorcycle.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

According to MoneyControl, Ather Energy plans to make its presence felt across 35 cities in the country. They plan to achieve this target over a period of three years. The company plans to add outlets at 10 cities by the end of 2020. The last city that Ather Energy opened an outlet was Chennai.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

As is, Ather Energy has only the Ather 450 scooter in its portfolio. The Ather 340 was discontinued during September this year, after the company released a statement saying that 99 percent of their customers wanted the 450.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

Mr Ravneet Phokela, the Chief Business Officer at Ather Energy, said, "There will be another line of scooters for consolidating the scooter market, and then we move on to motorbikes. We will certainly build a motorbike. But that is still few years away, may be three-to-four years. The new line scooters will hit the market in about 12-18 months."

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

Mr Phokela added that the new scooter would be cheaper than the Ather 450, but stressed that it would not be a Rs 50,000 product. The scooter will be a high performance, well designed, and well connected product. He also said that the scooter would offer a range of 75 kilometers to a full charge.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

Ather's Bangalore and Chennai outlets cater for 10,000 units in annual sales. The company want to enter Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata next. Being present at these cities will allow for the company to expand and scale up.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

The company does not have dealers but has experience centers instead. The experience centers allow for customers to test ride the Ather 450, and get an education about the technology in the company's product.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

The company is able to manufacture between 35,000 and 40,000 units a year (currently), and is in the process of setting up a greenfield factory that will allow it to produce up to five lakh units a year. Ather says that the factory will be ready before September next year. They plan to convert the existing facility in to a research & development center eventually.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

The company is also focusing heavily on charging infrastructure. Ather Energy always build some charging infrastructure before opening doors at a city. The company has 35 charging spaces in Bangalore, and 11 in Chennai.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

Ather Energy's drive is that any customer using their product should always have access to a charging facility. Their ultimate goal is to have a charging facility every two kilometers. Bangalore for example, has charging points every four kilometers, and the company is working to bring this down to two kilometers. They plan to have this set up at every city they will be present in.

Ather Energy Setting Up New Factory: Will Offer Cheaper Scooters And Motorcycles

Thoughts About Ather Energy's Expansion Plans

Any new manufacturer who wants to play the game for a longer period has to be present across the country, and has to offer products that are fairly inexpensive. Ather Energy is on the right track, and we wish them the best.

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Article Published On: Tuesday, November 26, 2019, 16:40 [IST]
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