Auto Sales October 2024: Electric Scooter Sales Grow Massively

The festive season saw the automotive industry jump back on its feet with increased sales. Particularly interesting was the sales of electric two-wheelers, where the segment grew a massive 85.14 per cent. More than 13 two-wheeler OEMs cumulatively sold 1,39,159 units of electric bikes and scooters. This was a further 54.16 per cent month-over-month growth from September 2024, when the industry only retailed 90,007 units. Out of these OEMs, Ola continued to lead the charge by selling 41,651 units last month.  

Ola was followed by TVS Motor Company which surpassed Bajaj Auto to take back the second position. The Hosur-based manufacturer registered 65.20 per cent month-on-month growth last month by retailing a healthy 29,915 units. In comparison, Bajaj retailed 28,232 units, which was close but not enough for second position. The Chetak continues to rake in healthy sales for the brand, and maintained a healthy month-on-month growth of 47.53 per cent. Moreover, on a year-on-year basis, the Chakan-based manufacturer’s sales grew exponentially by 211.27 per cent. 

On the other hand, Ather registered its best performance yet in any month since its inception by retailing 15,993 units. This was 25 per cent more sales, a respectable 88.51 per cent growth compared to October, 2023 when the brand had retailed just 8,484 units. This increased sales comes at a very important time, for Ather Energy has already filed for IPO. The Bengaluru-based EV manufacturer plans to raise ₹4,500 crore for further production expansion, new models, and technologies. Read more about it here. 

Hero MotoCorp also climbed quite a lot from last year, registering a massive 277.49 per cent growth in October 2024. During the festive period, the largest Indian two-wheeler manufacturer retailed 7,312 units of the Vida V1, compared to just 1,937 units it sold last year in the same period. Kinetic Energy also witnessed quite a lot of acceptance during the festive period. This was the first festive season for the newly revived Kinetic e-Luna, and during the festive month, Kinetic Energy delivered 1,443 units.

An increase in sales of ICE two wheelers did eat into the sales of EVs, which saw the latter’s market share drop from 7.5 per cent in September 2024 to 6.7 per cent last month. However, compared to last year in the same month, there was an uptick in share when it was just 5 per cent. How the market responds to this trend remains to be seen now that the new year and Christmas holidays are on the way, during which sales usually slow down.