Starting from September 2019, the Coimbatore-based e-scooter manufacturer has opened 23 new dealerships across the country. With EV space heating up in the country, it is imperative for early birds like Ampere to scale up the operations in order to stay in contention. The company currently has around 20% market share and widening the brand presence across the country would help improve things further.
Ampere’s products range from low-duty runabouts that doesn’t require license to premium e-scooters with lithium-ion battery. The new dealerships have come up in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Speaking about the expansion, Nagesh Basavanahalli, MD and CEO, Greaves Cotton, stated that the company will continue to expand the product portfolio and its distribution network throughout 2020.
With Ather, Bajaj and many other brands jumping into the EV scene with a phase-wise approach to network expansion, Ampere’s head start is expected to help the brand hold its ground.
In the last 10 years, Ampere has managed to sell over 50,000 units of e-scooters. A significant chunk of that volume came in the recent years as the government started promoting sales of EVs through schemes like FAME-II. The company is currently offering INR 1,000 worth free accessories on all of its scooters to celebrate this milestone.
The company’s flagship Zeal high-speed e-scooter has emerged as one of the fastest selling products in the segment, indicating the growing acceptance among customers. Ampere recently introduced a new light-duty e-scooter called Reo Elite for INR 45,000 (ex-showroom) which is currently available for pre-booking in Bangalore as of now (free helmet for early customers). More regions will be added in due course once the company streamlines the production.
Buoyed by the investment from Greaves Cotton, Ampere Vehicles is aiming to transform from an EV startup into a large scale OEM in the coming years. That would mean expanding its product lineup, developing new technologies, boosting its marketing operations and expanding its dealership network. The next few years are going to be very busy and exciting.
