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Vehicle registration count is a proxy for retail sales. It touched 111,964 units for electric two-wheelers on March 29 - the highest for any month - according to data from Vahan, the government's repository of all vehicle registrations in India.
The previous monthly high was 105,389 units in May 2023, when consumers had brought forward their purchase plans to avoid paying more due to a reduction in government subsidy from June.
As per Vahan data, the March registration volume is set to be up by 36% on a month-on-month basis and 30% year-on-year. In the previous six months, two-wheeler EV registrations averaged 78,353 units.
This is the second time within a year that the buying incentive has been reduced. In June 2023, it was reduced to ₹10,000 per kilowatt-hour (KWh) of battery capacity from ₹15,000 per KWh. It has now been reduced to ₹5,000 per KWh.
The majority of electric two-wheeler makers in the country are set to increase prices from April 1, the start of the new financial year.
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"We are considering a price increase of ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 next month," said an executive of a leading electric two-wheeler maker. "However, this will take care of the hit on account of lowering of the subsidy only partially."
The price increase comes on the back of the halving of the subsidy announced by the government as part of a new incentive called the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS). It will be in place till July 31 this year after the existing FAME-II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles) Scheme ends on March 31. The EMPS is expected to pave the way for a broader EV scheme after the FY25 budget.
The tendency to buy before an expected price hike takes a toll on the registration volume of the following month. In June 2023, monthly registration had dropped by 56% from May.
Such a boost to sales is more palpable in companies that have large market shares, such as Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Ather Energy Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp.
Ola Electric, which has the largest market share of 39% in the electric two-wheeler space, had a total registration of 44,154 units - the highest monthly reading for the company. For the fourth month in a row, the Bengaluru-based company has been clocking more than 30,000 units per month in registration.
The top five electric two-wheeler makers account for 86% of the total registrations for the industry.
TVS Motor is on course for its highest monthly registration of electric two-wheelers, having touched 22,125 units as of March 29, show Vahan data, taking its market share to 19.7%.
Bajaj Auto will have the highest monthly registration of 13,809 units, compared with the monthly average of 10,177 units in the last six months.
Hero MotoCorp had a registration figure of 3,086 till March 29 - the highest ever for the company.
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