The Bajaj Chetak, the electric scooter from the Pune-based Bajaj Auto, has surpassed the 1,00,000-unit sales milestone in the Indian EV market. Launched in January 2020, the Chetak EV has taken 47 months to achieve cumulative sales of 1,04,200 units as of end-November 2023, as per SIAM wholesales industry data.
What’s notable is that 60 percent of the total 1,04,200 units have come in the first eight months of FY2024, reflective of the growing demand for the zero-emission Bajaj on two wheels. These 62,991 units sold in April-November 2023 are a handsome 172 percent increase over April-November 2022 (23,160 units), and 31,556 units more than the cumulative sales of FY2023 (31,435 units).
On the cumulative wholesales front in the ongoing fiscal year, Bajaj Auto is just 5,229 units behind Ather Energy, the No. 3 OEM after Ola Electric and TVS Motor Co (1,32,894 units). The company clocked its best-ever monthly sales in the festive month of October 2023: 12,137 units.
On the retail front, as per Vahan data, Bajaj Auto sold more Chetaks than Ather Energy e-scooters in the past two months. The legacy player maintains its newly claimed No. 3 rank with best-ever monthly sales of 11,668 units in November, up 29 percent, month-on-month (October 2023: 9,052 units). The scooter had a market share of 13 percent in November, quite a jump from the 4 percent it had in January 2023.
Bajaj looks to expand Chetak network
Bajaj is looking to ramp up production as well as expand its network of exclusive Chetak showrooms. The Chetak network, which has a presence in 141 cities across India, is to be expanded to 250 cities by March 2024.
The Bajaj Chetak is powered by a 2.9kWh battery, has a certified range of 108km on a single charge and a top speed of 63kph. The Chetak Premium’s highlights include a two-tone seat, body-coloured rear view mirrors, a satin black grab rail and matching pillion footrest castings. The Bluetooth-enabled Chetak app facilitates tamper alert, geofencing and over-the-air updates.
Earlier this month, Bajaj Auto launched a new avatar of the Chetak called the Urbane, costing Rs 1,15,000 in its standard form, and Rs 1,21,000 for an additional ‘Tecpac’, which unlocks more features and performance. The company website lists the Chetak Urbane as having slightly higher range (113km) than the current Chetak (108km). However, in the case of the Urbane, this is the IDC-certified range, while for the current Chetak Premium, 108km is its claimed real-world range (its IDC rating is 126km). The new Chetak Urbane gets the same 2.9kWh battery capacity as the current model.
The Chetak Urbane utilises the same colour LCD display as the Premium variant. In standard form, the Urbane offers a 63kph top speed, and comes with only one riding mode – Eco. With the ‘Tecpac’ installed, top speed rises to 73kph and the user gets a Sport riding mode as well.
Ved Janve
Vishal Venugopal
Stephen Raj Antony
