Ather is finally turning to affordable electric scooters after losing its lead to Ola Electric and TVS Motor

• Ather Energy has revamped its product range to offer an affordable electric scooter.
• This comes at a time when Ola Electric and TVS Motor have raced past Ather, despite starting much later.
• The Ather 450X is now priced closer to the Ola S1 and the TVS iQube.

Ather Energy, one of the oldest manufacturers of premium electric scooters in India, has now started offering an affordable electric scooter after losing market share to relatively newer entrants in the space such as Ola Electric and TVS Motor. Despite a head start, Ather has seen these two companies race ahead in terms of volumes.

Ather entered the market in 2018 and was the first Indian company to offer a powerful electric scooter with features such as a large display. At the time, it was competing with Hero Electric, which offered low-power, affordable electric scooters.

Ather has so far focused on the premium electric segment, ignoring demand for a more affordable variant. However, it seems that increased competition from other companies has now forced Ather’s hand.

“We are revamping our product offerings to make an Ather scooter accessible to more customers,” said Abhishek Balaji, community manager, Ather Energy in a blog post.

Ather loses market share to Ola Electric and TVS Motor

Despite having the first-mover advantage, Ather has not maintained its market share. According to a BNP Paribas report, Ather sold 2,906 scooters in FY20, while Ola had yet to debut, and TVS Motor sold only 24 scooters. In FY21, Ather sold 4,401 scooters and TVS Motor sold 837.

Things started to change after Ola’s debut in FY22, but Ather continued to lead. The company sold 19,979 scooters, while Ola and TVS sold 14,398 and 9,637 scooters respectively.

Everything changed in FY23, with Ola selling nearly twice as many scooters as Ather. Despite some initial problems, Ola Electric managed to sell 1.52 lakh scooters in FY23, followed by TVS Motor, which sold 81,738 scooters, and Ather in third position with 76,787 scooters.

In just one year, Ola Electric and TVS Motor managed to dethrone Ather. The main reason for this was the price difference.

During a comparison in August last year, we compared the prices of the Ola S1, the Ather 450X and the TVS iQube S. These are the prices of the three scooters in Hyderabad in August 2022.

Since then, Ola has gone aggressive with the launch of the Ola S1 Air, which is priced from ₹84,999. TVS also has a more affordable offering in the form of the TVS iQube, priced at ₹1,15,293.

Ather renews product range

Amid the drop in its market share, Ather has been quietly revamping its product range. The company has removed the Ather 450 Plus and now offers two options – Ather 450X and the Ather 450X with Pro Pack, and there is a difference of over ₹30,000 between the two scooters.

The affordable Ather 450X costs ₹ 1,16,378 in Hyderabad and the Pro Pack variant costs ₹ 1,46,638.

Ather may still find it difficult to compete against Ola, as the affordable scooters offer features such as music playback and party mode, which have become quite popular. On a Twitter afterOla’s Bhavish Aggarwal recently teased that the company is working on a concert mode for its scooters.