Pune-based EV start-up, EMotorad, has announced its plan to expand its network to over 100 cities across India by the end of 2021. The company already has over 90 outlets across 42 cities, and over 50 service centres. But, it did not mention the number of additional dealerships that will come up this year, or the new cities. The company says that while the target is not really huge, its focus right now is to create greater awareness around EVs and strengthen the brand's relationship with its customer which will help it build a larger EV ecosystem. In fact, the company plans to expand its network across India on a large scale within two years, and by end of 2022, it aims to have over 450 showrooms across the country.
Along with a retail showroom EMotorad also aims to create experience centres for its products
"Right now, as we told you we are present in 42 cities in 90+ dealerships, and we need to get to 100+ cities by the end of this year, and when I talk about 100+ cities it's a very small target, but we want to nurture every city. Now, when we talk about being there in every 2.5 to 3 km in every city, there will be various touchpoints right from a cycle dealer to a good cafe where you can go and experience the ride. So, one will be a shop where you can actually go and buy the bike, but there will be multiple other touchpoints where you can go and experience the ride and our whole purpose is you just come and sit on the bike and you are sold."
The EMX was the first model to be launched by EMotorad and it currently accounts for about 60 per cent of the company total sales from the 3 ebikes
EMotorad started its operations in mid-2020, and in the first month of beginning the sales of its maiden product, the EMX, the company sold out all the initial 280+ units of the e-bike. Talking about how it managed to have such a strong impact on its dealer partners and customers, Kunal Gupta said, "So, what we always do is give out the bike to one dealer and make him understand that this is something that they could like to use to come to the office, and that is where we sell it off. We never contemplated that we would actually sell it out in a month. So, the whole stock of 280+ bikes was just sold out in a month, for that particular model (EMX) and then we quickly got another stock for the Diwali sale and that also got sold out, and them we figured out this is the right time, there is a high acceptance in terms of dealers, so, let's figure out 2-3 models wherein we understand the different kinds of demography and customers."
EMotorad currently sells three models in India - the EMX, the T-Rex and the recreational, folding bike Karbon, which will soon be rebranded as Doodle. The company has so far sold over 3000 units in India and is currently producing close to 1800 units a month. Gupta says that 60 per cent of the total sales have come from the EMX, which was their first product, about 30 per cent sales can be attributed to the Karbon, while the T-Rex, which was launched just a month ago, accounts for the remaining 10 per cent sales. The average age group of EMotorad's customers is between 25 to 42.
