The Two-Wheeler Special is a cracker – all of 72 pages filled with a crisp collection of exclusive interviews, in-depth analysis and top trends.
16 Jun 2020 | 33267 Views | By Sumana Sarkar
Motoring on two-wheelers, be it using fossil fuel or electricity, is a wind-in-the-hair experience. India, the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, is where all the action takes place. Reason enough to publish our annual Two-Wheeler Industry Special. This year’s edition is a cracker – all of 72 pages filled ...
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Motoring on two-wheelers, be it using fossil fuel or electricity, is a wind-in-the-hair experience. India, the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, is where all the action takes place. Reason enough to publish our annual Two-Wheeler Industry Special. This year’s edition is a cracker – all of 72 pages filled with a crisp collection of exclusive interviews, in-depth analysis and top trends.
You can read it in an instant – DOWNLOAD the June 15 ‘Two-wheeler Industry Special’ here.
Tracking top two-wheeler trends
As India Auto Inc gets into restart mode amidst a prolonged economic slowdown, affordable personal mobility is critical. We connected with some of the biggest names of the Indian two-wheeler industry to get a perspective on the road ahead.
Hero Electric is targeting a major ramp up in production with plans for setting up three satellite plants over next five years. Managing director Naveen Munjal says the online experiments during the Covid-triggered lockdown bore fruit and it now has a better grasp of customer perception with regard to electric bikes. The company plans a 10-fold increase in sales to 500,000 units.
Bangalore- based Ather Energy has disrupted the electric two-wheeler space with its futuristic and tech-loaded electric scooters. It plans to launch the all-new 450X in October and expand to eight new cities. Chief Business Officer Ravneet Phokela reveals the company’s growth strategy.
Ampere Electric Vehicles has powered up Greaves Cotton’s EV aspirations with the first of its ‘high-speed’ electric scooters – the new Magnus Pro. Will it give the company a new charge in the growing EV market? Find out.
Meanwhile, established players are re-aligning their goals, business models and strategies as they contend with difficult times. We’ve got three exclusive interviews from the best in the business.
Rakesh Sharma, executive director of Bajaj Auto, who expects at least a third of demand to come from new markets over the next 3-5 year, speaks at length on the plan to grow its motorcycle business, the experience with the electric Chetak, and business post Covid.
Malo Le Masson, Head- Global Product Planning, Hero MotoCorp charts out the OEM’s strategy to recoup lost ground in this world of fast-changing mobility solutions.
Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director (Sales and Marketing), Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, speaks exclusively to Autocar Professional in a comprehensive interview. Despite the rising popularity of the digital showrooms, he has a contrarian view. He feels digital cannot fully replace physical dealerships though business needs to be recalibrated as per the new normal. This, and a whole lot of other issues on which the marketing man speaks, make an interesting read.
Bangalore-based start-up Meladath Auto Components plans to launch a hybrid retrofit kit for two-wheelers, which can go on petrol-engined scooters in under an hour and enables a switch between fossil fuel to electric power at the click of a button.
From the auto component space, Endurance Technologies is making specific inorganic moves to strengthen its two-wheeler portfolio. After two acquisitions in two consecutive months, managing director Anurang Jain says a third one is on the cards too.
In the world of tyres, Ceat and Maxxis Tyres share their individual strategies to enhance market traction in the Indian two-wheeler space.
If you thought two-wheelers were predominantly the bastion of the younger generations, think again. Hyderabad Innovations has developed an easily customisable tilt wheeling system that converts a two-wheeler into a trike that is accessible across age groups and gender.
Not just that demand for two-wheeler taxis is also expected to shoot up as India opens up gradually after more than two months of lockdown. Rapido and Bounce are looking at making it big in this niche area.
Industry veteran HS Goindi, independent advisor and Ex-president (Marketing), TVS Motor and former EVP, Piaggio Vehicles shares his view on the ever-changing trends in the two-wheeler space and the scope for enhanced scooterisation.
If we talk of demand and supply, can safety be not factored in? Given that studies indicate that the two-wheeler rider has a 20 times higher risk of losing life in case of a crash, Bosch has now developed a speedy emergency assistance tech, ‘Help Connect’ for motorcyclists based on intelligent crash algorithm.
Ashok Leyland’s new AVTR
Last fortnight Ashok Leyland revealed its new commercial vehicle platform, the BS VI AVTR, which offers multiple axle configuration, loading spans, cabinet and a lot more. And it can deliver all of 600,000 unique combinations!
Karma plots greener cars
California-based Karma Automotive’s Srini Gowda, Vice-President of Autonomous Driving, at the American EV maker, talks about the company’s future business strategy.
Autocar Professional Webinar
In our webinar to mark world Environment Day on June 5, industry stakeholders made a renewed case for the electric wave in not just two-wheeler and four-weeler automotive but also in the public transport and the last-mile connectivity segments.
How you can read this issue – Click here to download
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