The all-electric Bajaj Chetak scooter has gone past the cumulative wholesales milestone of 300,000 units in the Indian market. From launch in January 2020 through to end-October 2024, as per SIAM wholesales data for the two-wheeler industry, the Chetak’s has clocked a total of 303,621 units till end-October 2024.
Having surpassed the 200,000-units milestone in June 2024, the last 100,000 units have taken just four months – July-October 2024 – with October 2024’s 30,644 units being the Bajaj Chetak’s highest monthly dispatches yet.
Dispatches of 141,885 Chetaks in the first 7 months of FY2025 are a 160% YoY increase. Also, the production-to-sales ratio shows that Bajaj Auto is managing its electric scooter inventory very well.
Launched on January 14, 2020, just before the pandemic struck, Bajaj Auto’s first electric scooter has taken 58 months or a little less than five years to hit 300,000 sales. A look at the Chetak’s sales data sheet reveals that while the momentum was rather slow right till end-FY2023, demand has risen handsomely in FY2024 and in the first seven months of FY2025.
The Chetak hit the 100,000 sales milestone in November 2023, taking all of 46 months or a little less than four years. The next 200,000 units though have been sold in just 12 months, as a result of the expanded retail network, ramped-up capacity and increased customer demand. In fact, the run from 200,000 to 300,000 has taken just four months. The 101,031 units comprise July (20,114 units), August (21,756 units), September 2024 (28,517 units) and October (30,644 units).
While FY2024’s 115,702 units were a 219% YoY increase (FY2023: 36,260 units), the April-October 2024 tally of 141,885 units in the first seven months of FY2025 are up 160% YoY on April-October 2023’s 54,519 units.
CHETAK URBANE AND URBANE PREMIUM UP THE ANTE
Bajaj Auto upped the ante in December 2023 and January 2024 with the launch of two new variants – the Chetak Urbane and the range-topping Urbane Premium. On January 5, 2024, the company rolled out the updated range-topping 2024 Urbane Premium. The most significant change is the new 3.2 kWh battery pack rated for a claimed IDC range of 127km on a single charge. The Chetak 2901 (Rs 95,998) and Urbane 2024 (Rs 123,319) are the two other variants.
While the base equipped with 2.88 kWh battery Chetak 2901 has a top speed of 63kph and 123km range, the Urbane with a 2.9 kWh battery hits 73kph and has a range of 113km. The top-end Urbane Premium has the largest battery (3.2kWh), a 73kph top speed and travels 126km on a single charge.
The Chetak Urbane utilises the same colour LCD display as the Premium variant. In standard form, the Urbane offers a 63kph top speed, and comes with only one riding mode – Eco. With the ‘Tecpac’ installed, top speed rises to 73kph and the user gets a Sport riding mode as well.
Retail sales of 107,970 units between April-October 2024 give the Bajaj Chetak an e2W market share of 16%, more than doubling its 5.51% share in H1 2023.
CHETAK’S RETAIL MARKET SHARE GROWS TO 16% IN APRIL-OCTOBER 2024
Bajaj Auto, which is among the three legacy players and SIAM members along with TVS Motor Co and Hero MotoCorp to have plugged into e-mobility, is the firm No. 2 after TVS and ahead of Ather Energy. In FY2024, as per SIAM wholesales data, the Bajaj Chetak sold 115,627 units, ahead of Ather Energy (107,894 units) by 7,733 units and below TVS Motor Co (189,896 units) by 74,269 units.
On the retail sales front, Ola Electric, which is not listed amongst the SIAM member companies, remains the market leader with a huge lead over its rivals. In the current fiscal year, the Bajaj Chetak has seen retail sales of 107,970 units in April-October 2024 compared to 119,256 TVS iQubes.
In terms of retail market share for the April-October 2024 period, the Bajaj Chetak accounts for a 16.61% share (up from 9% in April-October 2023) while the TVS iQube has an 18.35% share. E-two-wheeler market leader Ola Electric with 244,303 units tops with a 37% market share. Ather Energy (66,799 units) has a 10% share and is ranked fourth. These four OEMs put tother account for 81% of the total e-two-wheeler market.
What is giving the Chetak new verve in the market is the ramped-up production and a growing dealer network, which is understood to be around 1,000-showroom-strong across India. Bajaj Auto is also soon to further up the ante with the launch of a new mass-market e-scooter under the Chetak brand umbrella.
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