India’s second-largest motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd has announced its re-launch in the scooter segment. After almost a decade’s gap, the company is all set to make a comeback with its electric scooter- Chetak.
The brand new Chetak express scooter will be available in two variants offering a range of 85 km and 95 km. Bajaj Chetak will provide key-less ignition and will also be able to connect through an app. The price of the product has not been revealed yet. Pune-based Bajaj ceased manufacturing traditional scooters around 2009 to focus on motorcycles.
According to Rajiv Bajaj, managing director at Bajaj Auto, the electric space has tremendous potential for scooters and three-wheelers and said that Chetak scooter would be competitively priced. Reports state that the sales will commence from January 2020, with Bengaluru and Pune being the first sale units.
Bajaj said that scooters and step-through are a crucial segment. The electric Bajaj Chetak has not been manufactured to be in the volume space. The company has been trying to build meaningful niches with three-wheelers, superbikes, and electric scooters.
He believes that the biggest hurdle faced by the company for the adoption of electric mobility is the opposing idea in the head of manufacturers since they coin money from petrol and diesel vehicles.
The recent cut down in corporate tax will help the company benefit from the tax cut and will give it an additional room of Rs 450-500 crore. Bajaj plans to use the additional capital to absorb some of the cost of developing and manufacturing the electric scooter.
