Ola Electric Reduces Lowest E-Scooter Prices By 12.5%. Cost Reduced to…

India’s e-scooter market accounted for 5% of total two-wheeler sales in fiscal 2024. Ola Electric, India’s largest electric scooter maker, reduced the price of its cheapest variant by 12.5%, it said on Monday.

The move comes as the loss-making company seeks to boost sales after the government reduced subsidies. Ola cut the price of the cheapest variant of its S1X model to 69,999 rupees (about $839), from 79,999 rupees, according to Anshul Khandelwal, the company’s marketing chief.

The prices of other S1X variants were also cut, with reductions ranging from 5.6% to 9.1%. The SoftBank Group-backed company launched the S1X scooters last August, just months after the government lowered the incentives to buy e-scooters.

However, some analysts believe the price cuts may negatively impact Ola, as the company is already selling its higher variants of the S1X range at a loss. “Selling the base variant at a lower price is not feasible financially, and this is not something they can do forever,” said a Mumbai-based analyst who declined to be named.

Despite the price cuts, Ola’s cheapest e-scooter still costs more than the lowest-priced variants at TVS Motor and Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather, which are priced above 100,000 rupees. However, it costs less than Honda’s Activa, India’s top-selling petrol scooter, which retails at 78,000-82,000 rupees.

Ola, which started selling e-scooters in 2021, currently holds a 35% market share, while TVS and Ather control 19% and 12%, respectively of the market, according to government data. In fiscal 2024, the Bengaluru-based company sold 326,443 e-scooters, exceeding its target of 300,000 but lower than the initial estimate by two-thirds.

The broader industry data indicates that India’s e-scooter market accounted for 5% of total two-wheeler sales in fiscal 2024. *(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.

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