India has been reeling under the COVID-19 crisis and while shortage of medical supplies amidst rising number of cases remains the main worry, it continues to take a toll on economies and businesses alongside. The situation has been deterrent even for the electric vehicle industry which still is in its nascent stage of development in our market. That said, EV makers and stakeholders still are optimistic about hitting growth once the situation starts to normalise and they have solid reasons to believe so.
Also Read: Electric Vehicle Sales Down By 19.91 Per Cent In FY2020-21
To begin with, the auto industry cohesively saw demand going up once the lockdown started to ease-off and that was primarily attributed to two factors. First, there was a huge pent up demand and then people have been avoiding public transport or shared mobility for obvious reasons. Now this has also led to the growth of two-wheeler sales post the lockdown period and also went in favour of the used car market. Now especially two-wheeler and three-wheeler EV manufacturers other than cashing in the demand, are also expecting sales to improve again post lockdown arguing that these EVs are more affordable and suitable for intra-city commute. Moreover, few EV makers like Ather Energy who have solid digital presence, have been attracting encouraging engagement on forums and receiving bookings online.
Sohinder Gill, Director General - SMEV.
carandbike also reached out to the Society Of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) along with few EV makers to get their viewpoint on sales outlook. Sohinder Gill, Director General - SMEV said, "The sales during COVID have remained stagnant due to various reason. However, we anticipate that this financial year we will be able to perform much better than the last financial year. There is a need to amend the current FAME scheme to attract masses, which will quickly drive the sales of EVs within a short span of time."
Naveen Munjal, Managing Director - Hero Electric
On a similar note, Naveen Munjal, Managing Director - Hero Electric said, "The industry, overall has had a positive year owing to various factors like the rise in fuel prices, and consumers feeling the need for personal mobility to avoid public transport. We expect the trend to accelerate this year and at Hero we are looking to double our sales from last year and continue to lead the industry's growth."
Tarun Mehta, Ather Energy Co-Founder and CEO
Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO- Ather Energy, "With the restrictions imposed in several states, our retail activities and consumer engagement has moved to our digital touch points. Other than the physical test-ride of our products everything else is enabled on our digital platform, whether it is understanding our product, addressing all customer queries real-time, booking the vehicle and post ownership services among others. For the customers who purchase the vehicle online, delivery will take place once we resume normal operations. The Ather App & Forum are also made to improve a customer's overall day-to-day ownership and is a communication point with Ather Energy. At Ather Forum, members have been discussing everything related to Ather Energy & EV and the customers get real time feedback from our team. With the fear of the infection, customers would lean further towards online and contact-less modes of purchasing."
Amitabh Saran, Founder & CEO- Altigreen
Amitabh Saran, Founder & CEO- Altigreen said, "Covid-19 has had a steady and positive impact on e-commerce. Shopping, as a social experience, has taken a back seat. E-commerce rise equates to rise in last-mile logistics vehicles. Further, companies are under pressure to manage costs so that customer prices do not increase in a market that is suffering from negative sentiment. Since transportation costs account for at least 5 per cent of the total sales amount, all retailers are looking to reduce it, while keeping very tight delivery schedules. EVs help them in both areas. The second wave will hit all stakeholders with short-term and long-term impacts including shortage of materials, delayed delivery, liquidity crunch and dampening of consumer confidence. Altigreen is working in tandem with our e-commerce partners through customized offerings of our road-ready electric delivery vehicles. Our EV solutions are enabling them to fast-pace operations especially in longer (sub)urban commutes."
In the last financial year, in the E2W segment, the industry registered sales of 1,43,837 units, which include 40,836 high-speed and 1,03,000 low-speed E2W. The sales of E2Ws declined by 6 per cent in FY21, having registered sales of 1,52,000 units in the FY20. The E3W segment registered sales of 88,378 E3W as against 1,40,683 units sold in FY20, recording a decline of 37.17 per cent. Now two-wheeler EV manufacturers are expecting to record better numbers leading to growth this year by targeting buyers that have intra-city or shorter commutes and prefer to avoid public transport. On the other hand, the E4W segment has been on the growth trajectory thanks to newer offering in the market. The EV industry sold 4,588 units of E4W compared to 3,000 units in the same period last year, witnessing a healthy growth of 52.93 per cent.
