Ather plans to double production by March 2023, aims for sales boost

Electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy aims to increase its sales multi-fold in 2023. A key part of its business growth strategy is going to be increasing production volume by more than double. The automaker plans to increase the production rate by March 2023 to 20,000 units from its current rollout rate of 8,000-9,000 units per month. Ather opened its second manufacturing facility in Hosur in October this year. This new plant would be crucial in this production boost strategy.

Apart from that, Ather Energy also aims to grow its distribution networks across India on the back of easing supply chain pressures, reports Livemint. The electric two-wheeler brand plans to open showrooms on the outskirts of cities and gradually move to more affluent urban neighbourhoods to reach more consumers. This comes as a reversal of its initial policy.

Ather CEO Tarun Mehta has said that the company is looking to ramp up production by up to 15,000 scooters a month by January next year. He also said that the company would start making closer to 20,000 units by the end of the current financial year. “We are looking to ramp up to 15,000 scooters a month by January, and we’ll start doing closer to 20,000 units by the end of this financial year," said Mehta. He also said that the big focus is now on opening up distribution. "For a while, we were tentative on distribution because supply was painful for nine months. We did not want to have more dealers till we had the supplies to cater to the demand," he added.

This business expansion strategy comes on the back of the pressure the company is feeling due to the increased penetration of many electric two-wheeler manufacturers in the country and ever-rising demands from consumers. However, despite the other players introducing low-cost products to gain market share, Ather is not ready to compromise on its profitability, hinted the company's CEO. He has cleared that the EV maker will continue to sell premium products at high costs. “We would not sell at a loss. I am unwilling to lose money at the unit level and sell at negative gross margin," he said.

Speaking about dealerships, Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy has confirmed that it is looking at opening 10-11 new showrooms every month. “We are seeing demand growing with each experience centre we are opening," said Mehta.