TVS Motors to re-enter electric scooters market

TVS Motors on Friday said it was planning to re-enter the electric scooters market in the next financial year. The company has already developed an electric variant of Scooty Teenz, along with another new product for the domestic market.

H S Goindi, president (marketing), TVS Motors said, “We are testing 50 electric scooters in towns across the country. Depending on the feedback, the scooters will be launched sometime in the next financial year.”

The scooters would be rolled out from the company’s facility in Mysore and the company would initially use lead acid batteries for the electric scooters. “Business in electric scooters picked up in India a few years back, but dropped due to issues with battery technology and the withdrawal of subsidies. There is potential in the market, with the government announcing a national mission for promoting electric and hybrid vehicles. We see some proportion of sales coming from this segment over the next five years,” Goindi said.

In April 2008, TVS Motors had launched the ‘Scooty Teenz Electric’, for which the company targeted sales of around 40,000 units per year. However, it stopped production in May 2009, as the product received a lukewarm response.

Goindi said TVS Motors is studying the impact of the rise in commodity prices on the company’s margins and a decision on price rise is likely to be taken next month.

Meanwhile, the company on Friday launched its premium bike, ‘Apache RTR 180’, which boasts of anti-lock braking system technology and is priced at Rs 78,880 (ex-showroom, Delhi).