Legacy Indian two-wheeler OEMs TVS Motor Co and Bajaj Auto, which both entered the Indian EV industry in January 2020 with their all-electric scooters, are now scaling new highs in the domestic market. While the TVS iQube’s wholesales will have gone past the 500,000 wholesales milestone in early January 2025, the Bajaj Chetak dispatches to dealers have hit 350,000 units and counting.
22 Jan 2025 | 5082 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Exactly 60 months ago, two legacy two-wheeler OEMs – Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Co – made a foray into electric mobility. January 2020 was when the Bajaj Chetak and the TVS iQube were officially launched in a nascent market for zero-emission vehicles in India.
Barely a month or ...
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Exactly 60 months ago, two legacy two-wheeler OEMs – Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Co – made a foray into electric mobility. January 2020 was when the Bajaj Chetak and the TVS iQube were officially launched in a nascent market for zero-emission vehicles in India.
Barely a month or two later, the Covid pandemic struck and crippled the automotive industry, among others. It is only in the past two-odd years that the electric two-wheeler industry has blossomed, benefiting the Chetak and the iQube.
Combined wholesales of these two e-scooters, as per official SIAM data for the past five years, at 846,837 units is just 3,163 units shy of the half-a-million mark, which will have been crossed in the first few days of January 2025. While the Bajaj Chetak’s wholesales at 350,521 units comprise 41% of the total, the TVS iQube with 496,316 units account for the remaining 59 percent. TVS’ sizeable wholesales lead is because it had in place a wider sales network for its EV much earlier than Bajaj Auto for its Chetak.
Here’s taking a quick data-driven look covering production, wholesale and also retail numbers of the two products which are trading punches to be the best in the business.
BAJAJ CHETAK: REBORN ELECTRIC AVATAR OF ICONIC SCOOTER
It was on October 16, 2019, when Bajaj Auto first revealed the Chetak, the reborn zero-emission avatar of the iconic eponymous petrol-engined scooter, at a high-powered event attended by Union Minister of Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari and Amitabh Kant, the then CEO of Niti Aayog.
Speaking at the product unveiling, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto had said: “I have been surprised to see the enthusiasm when people came to know we were developing an electric vehicle. I am also surprised to see the people who want to revolutionise Indian roads are often failed IC two-wheeler manufacturers who want to change the world with their EVs. We are not a battery or steel maker – we are engineers who do our own work, we are a company with a rich past and a strong legacy. We have a solid foundation to make a foray into the future.”
His words have borne fruit because five years down the line, the Bajaj Chetak is having a strong ride in the Indian e-two-wheeler market and is hard on the heels of the TVS iQube. As per SIAM data, the Pune-based OEM has produced a total of 352,757 units, of which the company has despatched 350,524 units to its Chetak dealers across the country. Of this lot, an estimated 296,698 units have been bought by customers with 259,438 units – or 87% – sold in the past 21 months. This makes for a dealer inventory level of 53,826 units at the end of December 2024.
In FY2024, the Chetak’s retail sales of 106,623 units gave it an e2W market share of 11%, nearly tripling its 4% share in FY2023. It was ranked fourth behind Ola Electric, TVS and Ather Energy. In fact, it had narrowed the sales gap with No. 3 OEM Ather Energy to less than 2,500 units, having outsold the Bengaluru-based smart e-scooter maker for six straight months from October 2023 to March 2024, Bajaj outsold Ather for six straight months.
The Cheetak's strong showing continues in the current fiscal’s first nine months. At 152,815 units retailed, the Chetak accounts for 18% of the e2W industry total retails of 843,699 units in the April-December 2024 period. In CY2024, the Chetak’s annual retails of 193,557 units were 17% of the industry record 11,48,932 or 1.14 million units. In December 2024, the Bajaj Chetak was the best-selling e2W for the first time since its launch.
TVS iQUBE: PLUGGING INTO ZERO-EMISSION MOBILITY
Marking the start of TVS Motor Co’s electric mobility journey, the TVS iQube was launched on January 25, 2025. Since then, the iQube has charted a stroing growth path, particularly in the past two years.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Srinivasan had said: "TVS Motor is driven by customer-centric Innovation. As India moves ahead, its mobility solutions would increasingly be total experience-led, nowhere is this felt sharper than among the youth of India. Our focus on the ‘Green & Connected’ youth of India is embodied in the first of the TVS Electric portfolio. The TVS iQube Electric is a blend of an advanced electric drivetrain and the next-gen TVS SmartXonnect platform."
A fine blend between practicality and performance, the TVS iQube equipped with full LED lights, connected tech and was positioned as a family e-scooter with a wide seat and decent storage space. While the first 100,000-unit sales took a little over three years, the run from 100,000 to 200,000 iQubes was achieved in far less time – just 10 months. The 300,000-unit wholesales milestone was surpassed in early May 2024. The last 200,000 units have been dispatched to dealers in the past eight months, which reflect the market demand.
On the retail front, TVS has sold a total of 439,943 iQubes since launch 60 months ago, which leaves a current dealer inventory of 56,373 units. TVS Motor Co has had a great run in FY2024 with its iQube e-scooter, more than doubling its FY2023 sales. With retails of 83,191 units in FY2024, the company recorded sterling 125% YoY growth (FY2023: 82,109 units). This gives it a market share of 19.37%, up from the 11.27% share it had in FY2023.
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