The Pune-based automaker is focussing on both electric three wheelers as well as electric two wheelers. Bajaj Auto launched electric three wheelers in select cities last year and has now rolled them out across 23 cities. It is planning to expand its electric three wheeler network to 70-80 cities “over the next couple of months”.
During the post-Q3 earnings media briefing on Wednesday, Dinesh Thapar, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Bajaj Auto, told ETAuto, “Currently, our focus is to unlock capacities on the manufacturing front and grow the networks. For electric three wheelers, we have a new facility that will be commissioned by the end of this quarter. For this, we will be spending close to INR 400 crore until early next (fiscal) year.”
Bajaj also planning to ramp up the production of Chetak electric scooters which it introduced in FY21. The electric version of the iconic scooter clocked 1,395 unit sales for the model in the initial year of launch. According to Bajaj Auto’s Annual Report for 2022-23, Chetak EV domestic sales stood at 8,187 units in FY22 and 36,260 units in FY23.
“We want to grow the volumes to 15,000 units per month in the immediate term, and then look at upwards of 20,000 units thereafter, along with the network expansion,” Thapar said.
The company, however, said that its future course of action will depend a lot on the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) policy. Notably, the govt is expected to extend the scheme beyond this financial year but it might curtail or withdraw subsidies for electric two wheelers. Other EV segments though are expected to receive FAME subsidies in the coming financial year.“We are very conscious that there is a significant event on FAME and what happens at the end of March will determine at least the near term course of the two wheeler industry,” he noted.Bajaj Auto reported a robust 38% growth in consolidated Profit After Tax (PAT), reaching INR 2,032.62 crore in the October-December quarter. This marked an increase from INR 1,472.7 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The consolidated total revenue from operations in Q3 FY24 stood at INR 12,165.33 crore, up from INR 9,318.54 crore in Q3 FY23.