The company is targeting to sell 40,000 units this fiscal – Till Aug 2020, sales crossed 12k units
Okinawa Scooters finished last fiscal with a decent sales performance and the EV brand remains bullish about its performance in the ongoing fiscal despite the pandemic wreaking havoc in the first half.
Okinawa Scooters sales performance
Responding to an email questionnaire by Rushlane, Okinawa Scooters revealed that it ended the last fiscal with a sales tally of around 32,000 units, corresponding to a revenue of around INR 150 crore. For this fiscal, they plan to sell even higher number, despite of pandemic.
The electric scooter manufacturer has already managed to sell 12,000 units so far in this fiscal year which commenced on April 1, 2020. Average monthly sales performance stand between 2,000 to 3,000 units. Demand growth meant the brand was able to retail a 1,000 units within a month of lockdown being lifted.
The pandemic has turned people averse to using public transport wherein social distancing is easier said than done. So, more and more people are looking to invest in a private mode of transport, and in an urban setting, an electric two wheeler makes tremendous sense due to low running costs and attractive FAME-II subsidies. Okinawa Scooters is targeting to clock sales of 40,000 units in this fiscal year even though the first few months were practically swept away.
Product focus
As far as the product portfolio is concerned, the company’s future focus will be on high-speed lithium-ion products. As of now, Okinawa sells three of them in the form of i-Praise+, Praise Pro and Ridge+. The company also retails two low-speed (top-speed of 25 kmph and no license required) lithium ion models – Lite and R30. The Praise, Ridge and Ridge30 constitute the company’s lead-acid battery powered product lineup.
EV scenario in the country
Most electric two wheelers in India import some critical components like battery cells from China. The disruption in the logistics and supply chain network due to the pandemic and the ongoing border tension between India and China are likely to put pressure on almost all local EV makers. The short supply of raw materials and components could lead to production constraints which may affect the manufacturers’ ability to meet the surging demand.
It would be interesting to see how other major electric two wheeler makers including Okinawa are going to handle these challenges in short term. If production bottlenecks could be avoided, the EV makers are in for an encouraging 2020.
Jeetender Sharma- MD and Founder, Okinawa said, “In the past few years since e- mobility entered India, there has been significant growth in the sector. At Okinawa, we have retained over 3000 units post lockdown got lifted, with around 25 % dealerships still not operational. The idea of e-mobility has been warmly accepted in tier 2 andtier 3 regions as well. In fact, we receive more demand from tier 2 and tier 3when compared with tier 1.”
