Chennai: Small town India is taking to electric scooters in a big way. According to Ola Electric, smaller locations like Durg in Chattisgarh, Belgaum, Tumkur and Hassan in Karnataka, Ernakulam in Kerala and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu are boasting 35 per cent-60 per cent penetration in electric scooters.
“Kolhapur is among the top five penetration markets, Belgaum has 50 per cent-60 per cent penetration, Durg 35 per cent-40 per cent and Tirupur 30 per cent,” said Anshul Khandelwal, CMO, Ola Electric.
That’s comparable to the top cities like Bengaluru which has 45 per cent-50 per cent e-scooter penetration, Pune 35 per cent-40 per cent, Surat 35 per cent and Jaipur 33 per cent electric scooter penetration, he added. Overall, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka are the top penetration states, he said.
The company is expanding footprint in Tier 2 and 3 cities where opening up of an experience centre takes penetration from 1 per cent-2 per cent to 8 per cent-10 per cent, he said adding, “the smaller towns are where we see significant growth.”
Ola, which currently has a 40 per cent share of the e-scooter market, is looking to increase its marketshare to 60 per cent-70 per cent, added Khandelwal. “We did around 30,000 units last month and we are targeting 40,000-50,000 this month,” he added.
Ola would expand its scooter portfolio to address all price points this year, he said. Apart from S1 and S1Pro, the third model will come later this year and “then a few more” he said.
Ola introduced its D2C sales & service model for two-wheelers in India, which included doorstep delivery and servicing. Although the company now has 500 experience centres across the country, a significant portion of its sales still comes from its website and apps.