Ather Energy, the Bengaluru-based smart electric two-wheeler maker, has announced its dealer partners for the western region of India in Maharashtra and Gujarat. This is in addition to its earlier update confirming deliveries of the Ather 450X and opening full payments for pre-orders.
Each city is likely to get about 10-15 Ather Grid points before delivery
The next 8 cities will see the Ather 450X test rides in the coming weeks
Ather says it aims to bring a premium retail experience
Ather Energy says that, through its dealer partners, it aims to bring the same premium retail experience that it has delivered via its company-owned experience centres. This required collaboration with progressive dealers with experience of premium products and a deep understanding of consumers in their respective markets. To that end, Ather Energy has collaborated with Kataria Group in Ahmedabad, Kamal Motors in Mumbai and BU Bhandari in Pune.
The next eight cities will see the Ather 450X test rides in the coming weeks, with deliveries beginning in November. The test rides will be hosted at convenient locations across the cities, prior to the official experience outlets opening later in the year.
Ather Maharashtra and Gujarat dealer partner details
At present, the company operates Ather Space in Bengaluru (Indiranagar) and Chennai (Wallace Garden Street). In the Pune market, it will partner with BU Bhandari to set up Ather Space, who have been associated with the automotive industry for the last 50 years and have partnered with Volkswagen and Triumph, among others. Kamal Motors, who will be operating the Ather Space in Mumbai, has been the No.1 dealership for Tata Motors in commercial vehicle for fiscal 2019-2020 and have been associated with the auto industry for the last 18 years. The Ahmedabad partner, Kataria group, is said to be one of the largest dealerships in the country, representing manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki India, Porsche, Bharat-Benz, Honda and TVS two-wheelers. In the last 25 years, the group has built a base of over a million customers and has 100 touch points across Gujarat.
Ather Maharashtra and Gujarat charging infrastructure locations
In terms of charging infrastructure – the Ather Grid – the company will set up fast charging in all of the cities, with each likely to get about 10-15 Ather Grid points before delivery of the smart EVs. Some of the confirmed location for Pune are Kalyan Bhel, Little Italy, Kalinga Restaurant, Copacabana, Bliss Bakery Cafe, Hotel KBs Woodland, Eat & Repeat Cafe and for Mumbai, Little Italy restaurants and Ahmedabad’s locations include Sangeetha Mobiles, Little Italy and Royal Orchid.
Ravneet Phokela, chief business officer, Ather Energy: “Intelligent electric vehicles are a new category and we have spent the last couple of years pioneering a new model in Chennai and Bengaluru that is focused on experience. We were looking for partners who share Ather’s passion for delivering superior customer experience. When we announced the dealership format, we received a phenomenal response from strong, industry-leading dealer partners, and we are pleased to partner. We are very pleased to partner with Kamal Motors, B U Bhandari and the Kataria Group and they have been extremely supportive and have been offering us their expertise to expedite the opening of their respective markets. We hope to recreate the magic we were able to in Bengaluru and Chennai. We will soon share the location of the experience centres in each of the cities.”
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Ather expansion plans pick up pace