Ola Loses Ground To TVS & Bajaj In E2W Space, Market Share Slips To 33% In August

The launch of lower-priced electric vehicles and an aggressive discounting play by legacy two-wheeler players like TVS and Bajaj is helping them win the market share from their rival Ola Electric, according to a new report by Jefferies.

Ola Electric’s market share in the electric two-wheeler market has slipped from 49% in the June quarter (Q1 FY25) to 33% in August on a month-to-date basis, although it still remains in the lead, Jefferies said.

On the other hand, TVS’ market share in the electric-two wheeler market has surged from 15% to 19% over the same period while Bajaj’s has jumped from 11% to 18%. TVS Motor has been witnessing sustained growth in recent months, with new registrations for its EVs jumping 39% month-on-month to 19,471 units in July.

Meanwhile, Hero still lags behind with a 5% market share in August, while Honda is yet to launch its first EV in India.

Even as Ola Electric has ceded space to its competitors recently, the launch of its upcoming Roadster series of e-bikes could provide a boost to its order volumes, Jefferies noted.

During the Ola Sankalp 2024 event held earlier this month, Aggarwal announced plans to launch three new electric motorcycles – Roadster X, Roadster and Roadster Pro.

“Roadster will be the first affordable electric bike by a mainstream player and could provide a boost to Ola’s volumes as motorcycles form 63% of India’s two-wheeler market, although on-road vehicle performance will be key to customer acceptance and profitability of these e-bikes remains to be seen,” Jefferies said.

It is pertinent to note that the Ola’s Roadster series of e-bikes will not hit the roads before the March quarter of the ongoing financial year. On the other hand, incumbents TVS and Bajaj have been expanding their portfolio of electric vehicles and have even launched lower-priced products.

For instance, TVS now has two e-scooter models: while iQube is available in five different variants with prices ranging from INR 1.07 Lakh-1.85 Lakh, TVS X comes at a ticket price of INR 2.5 Lakh.

Meanwhile, Bajaj has also introduced a lower-priced variant of its electric two-wheeler Chetak, which costs anywhere between INR 1 Lakh and INR 1.47 Lakh. 

According to Jefferies, subsidy cuts by the government are hurting the pace of EV adoption in the country. As a result, the share of electric two-wheelers has remained range-bound between 4 to 7%, despite the launch of lower-priced products.

“The contours of the next phase of FAME would be crucial for the pace of EV adoption. We expect the share of EVs in 2Ws to rise gradually to 7%/10%/13% in FY25, FY26, FY27,” said Jefferies.

This comes after the government’s FAME II scheme, launched in 2019 to boost EV adoption in the country, expired in March. Meanwhile, the Centre’s new Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024, which has an outlay of INR 500 Cr, is set to expire in September.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.