Indian Electric 2-Wheeler OEMs Open FY2027 with Record Sales Surge The Indian electric two-wheeler (e-2W) market kicked off FY2027 with a strong performance, as the top four OEMs—TVS Motor Co, Bajaj Auto, Ather Energy, and Hero Vida—registered robust growth, collectively capturing 76% of April 2026’s retail sales. Total e-2W deliveries in April reached 148,677 units, marking a 61% year-over-year (YoY) increase compared to April 2025 (92,536 units). This figure ranks as the second-highest monthly sales in the current fiscal year, trailing only March 2026’s 192,343 units. Market leader TVS Motor Co led the charge, selling 37,661 units in April 2026, a 96% YoY jump from 19,176 units in the same period last year. This performance secured TVS a 25% market share for the month, its second-highest monthly tally. The company’s strategic shift to Battery-As-A-Service (BaaS) has played a key role in driving demand, reducing upfront costs and offering long-term battery assurance. The iQube model remained the top seller, while the Orbiter V1, launched in February 2026 at Rs 84,500 (ex-showroom Delhi) and Rs 49,999 (with BaaS), saw growing traction. Bajaj Auto followed closely, delivering 32,883 Chetak e-scooters in April 2026, a 72% YoY rise from 19,162 units in April 2025. This performance gave the Pune-based company a 22% market share, its third-highest monthly score after March 2026 (46,544 units) and March 2025 (35,215 units). Ather Energy, the third-ranked OEM, sold 27,024 units in April 2026, a 103% YoY increase from 13,332 units in April 2025. This marked the company’s second-highest monthly total and its sixth instance of exceeding 20,000 units sold in a single month. The EV start-up, which surpassed 600,000 cumulative retail sales recently, is now eyeing the No. 2 position in the market.#ola_electric #bajaj_auto #ather_energy #tvsmotor_co #hero_vida
Ather’s CEO Tarun Mehta counters govt stance on PLI, says startups are ‘engine’ of EV shift The debate around India’s auto production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has intensified, with Tarun Mehta, CEO of Ather Energy, challenging the government’s position that startups are not the intended beneficiaries of the program. Mehta argued that the current framework of the PLI scheme is misaligned with the realities of India’s electric vehicle (EV) transition, emphasizing that startups and new-age EV companies have been instrumental in building the electric two-wheeler ecosystem over the past decade. Earlier this week, a senior government official clarified that the PLI scheme is designed for “global champions,” with eligibility criteria including revenue of Rs 10,000 crore and fixed assets of Rs 3,000 crore. These thresholds, the official stated, exclude electric-first companies and most EV startups like Ather Energy, River Motors, and Euler Motors. Mehta countered that such high thresholds are outdated and fail to recognize the contributions of startups, which have invested heavily in product development, software, power electronics, and localisation without the advantages of legacy scale. In a detailed post, Mehta highlighted that startups are already delivering outcomes that the PLI scheme aims to incentivise. He cited Ather’s investments, including thousands of crores in R&D and manufacturing, over 4,000 direct jobs, and a planned Rs 2,000 crore greenfield facility in Maharashtra, as evidence of their role in capacity creation and localisation. He argued that excluding startups from the PLI framework creates a structural disadvantage, with estimates suggesting a 13–16% cost gap between PLI beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries.#maharashtra #ather_energy #tarun_mehta #pli_scheme #euler_motors
