Demand for e-rickshaws continues to soar
Modified On Oct 20, 2022 04:44 PM
The month-on-month sales of battery-operated three-wheeler are on the rise due to higher preference by customers from urban and rural India.
There is a silent market shift taking place right at the bottom of the overall automotive market. Three-wheelers often referred to as auto-rickshaws are a popular category that serves the affordable market segment in rural and urban India for mobility and cargo shipping needs. This segment is a critical volume driver, highly important to brands catering to the segment and also to the customers-who mostly first-time vehicle owners.
Another major contribution of the auto-rickshaw is creating employment opportunities for millions across the country, and thus sales of auto-rickshaws continue to clock steady monthly volume. Despite the emergence of the lower tonnage/mini-trucks that offer more prestige and value to customers, three-wheelers continue to thrive due to lower operating and purchasing costs.
Related: 5 top three-wheeler brands in India: September’22
As fuel prices start to jump significantly over the last few years, the whole operating cycle of auto-rickshaw owners has turned upside down. Also, the adoption of BS6 emission norms has further made this vehicle even more costly, this double whammy took the sector by storm. And so, one-way customers started to electric auto-rickshaw as a strong alternative to the IC engine ones, and after a bumpy ride, the market has now seemed to be turning around in favor of this electric vehicles/e-auto-rickshaw as the preferred vehicle.
While announcing the monthly retail sales number for September, FADA said, “The 3W segment continues to see a structural shift from ICE to EV. This is also reflected in the extremely healthy growth rate of e-rickshaw. Apart from better availability of vehicles with full range products including alternate fuels, customers have started using public transport and rickshaw service thus fuelling demand in this segment.”
And this is evident in the monthly retail numbers that are coming through Indian cities, hinterlands, and urban centers through FADA's vast dealer networks. E-Rickshaw has clearly arrived as a vehicle of choice. a large number of buyers showing confidence in the new technologies. In September the total number of electric auto-rickshaws sold was 33,873 units, this includes 32,152 units of passenger carriers and 1720 units of cargo, comfortably overtaking the conventional auto-rickshaw segment. And this number more than doubled that the same month last year which was recorded at 15,417 units.
Top brands established and start-ups are serving this emerging vehicle segment with products at several price points, ranges, and configurations, and you can also explore ways of owning an e-rickshaw to accelerate your business.
Want to buy a new electric auto-rickshaw? At TrucksDekho, our tools help you with everything that you need. Check out the top brands, and variants on sale right now, compare, calculate EMI, get an on-road price quote, and deals on finance and insurance.
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