Even as the buzz about electric vehicles increases, selling green mobility on two wheels in India needs one to be stout of heart and a master in the art of convincing customers. Mayank Dhingra finds out what it takes to retail an e-scooter in the Delhi-NCR region.
With the buzz about electric mobility growing stronger by the day, within industry and elsewhere too, it is but apparent that the vehicle dealer fraternity will, sooner rather than later, also be interested in selling purveyors of green mobility. But for those who have already been selling EVs (and those who will consider plugging into this type of mobility, at present the situation calls for a person to be stout of heart and convinced about the purpose.
With Delhi-NCR having at least a few EV charging stations for two-wheelers, Autocar Professional decided to find out what it takes to set up a typical dealership. The current investment necessary to setup an EV sales-cum service outlet is estimated at Rs 42-45 lakh, including the cost for the 550-odd square feet of real-estate in New Delhi. This puts e-two-wheeler dealerships to be placed into the league of low capital expense businesses, with returns ranging between 6-10 percent on every unit sold.
On the other hand, a conventional two-wheeler dealership, selling some 200-odd units monthly, sees initial investment of up to Rs 1.5 to 2 crore, given the substantially larger 2,0003,000 square feet of floor area required for display and an integrated servicing facility. The net return on investment is also relatively better positioned between 18-20 percent annually, owing to good amount of vehicles also entering the workshop to get serviced and also avail spares.
Regular sales of these e-scooters from an outlet in Delhi-NCR currently stand between 30-40 units each month, which are substantially lower than their IC engine counterparts (July 2017: 569,869 units across India). Nevertheless, given the government’s all-out push for e-mobility, it is believed there’s potential to scale up to 50 times the current number of e-scooters.
This story is from the September 01 2017 edition of Autocar Professional.
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This story is from the September 01 2017 edition of Autocar Professional.
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