Often called as Indian Tesla by a motor enthusiast in India due to its characteristics like fast and smart technology, driven amazingly well, tech-laden, cheap to run, low on maintenance, fantastic customer service, and just happen to be electric – Ather Energy is currently the talk of the town. The journey started of Ather started when the revolutionary startup was founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, two alumni from the IIT Madras.
Creating a space for the brand in such a small duration in a product-based industry is tough. The startup was backed by the Flipkart boys, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in initial days, and also by, Hero Group and Tiger Global, hence they never faced problems with finances. Building a product and building a brand were done parallelly, credits to some unique initiatives. Ather always positioned itself as a technology company where they focused on innovations and not just any automobile company.
The automobile industry is amid a substantial technological disruption where Electric Vehicle is the preferred choice because of its inherent efficiency that will shape urban commute and the cities of tomorrow. India, being a country dependant on the import of crude oil, the electric revolution will be a substantial step in making it a more robust economy. In parallel, the world around us is getting connected, enabling the integration of devices and making our life experiences seamless. Intelligent vehicles will revolutionize our commute experience in the future.
Keeping all these facts in mind, Ather came into being and today, with an ahead-of-the-times vision, it has created a name for itself in the automobile space.
Brand Strategies
1. Never in a hurry approach
This has been one of the key factors in building Ather EV where every small aspect was taken care of, from development to testing and finally, taking it to the customers. From the speculation of entering the market in 2017 to actually launching the first vehicle in 2018, it took enough time to build one of the best two-wheeler vehicles in India, with the total development cycle of the scooters being 5 years when it generally takes 18-30 months for a simple two-wheeler.
2. One city at a time
Brand love to expand business instantly and multiple city launches, but Ather never did that. They preferred going to one city at a time and started with Bangalore, the IT hub of India. The next city was Chennai, which came after a year launching in Bangalore. Also, they never sold the vehicle in any other city than the ones they are operating so as to provide the best services to their customers. They might have lost thousands of sales due to this strategy but this made sure that the aim of the company to provide the best customer service, is achieved.
3. Experience center, “Ather Space”
Rather than creating traditional dealership showrooms, Ather went for a unique experience center called “Ather Space.” The company claims that it helps in maintaining the end-to-end customer experience. Aimed at increasing product understanding, providing customer education, and giving a first-hand experience of the product to consumers are the motives behind creating these spaces. Test rides are also provided at the Experience Centers and can be pre-booked on the company’s website.
Experience Centers have components of the scooter displayed with useful information provided alongside each of them. There is also a fully built naked scooter on display to show the chassis of the scooter.
4. AtherGrid
Ather has set up its own charging network, dubbed Ather Grid, in Bangalore & Chennai. These DC-fast-charging stations use Ather’s proprietary charging method and connector to charge the scooters at a rate of 1 km/min. The charging points are also equipped with a 3-pin socket to supply AC power to other electric vehicles that do not use Ather’s connector. Other vehicles can connect to the charging point and start charging using the Ather Grid app for iOS and Android. With over 30 locations in Bengaluru, 10 in Chennai, and several more planned in other cities across India, you will never be more than 4 km away from a Point.
5. Ather One
One of its kind Subscription plans, these are just about a whole lot of goodness bundled together. They include everything right from charging at home to the data connection for all the intelligent features you love, specifically over-the-air upgrades, and most importantly these are not revenue-based rather than these are owner focused.
6. Ather Community
How do they promote Ather? Who is the Brand Ambassador? Well, the answer is the Ather Community, which owns the EV. They call them for meets and they even invite them for City Launch.
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Expanding the horizons
The demand ramp-up is achieved by expanding to multiple cities where there is substantial interest in dealerships and the vehicle. The team has announced its expansion of operations to Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad in addition to Bengaluru and Chennai, where they are already present. Ather now added Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore and Kolkata cities as well. Ather Energy now plans to take its operations to around 24 cities by next fiscal to cater to the demand, Mehta had said last month.
To increase the supply, the factory ramp-up is also done. The team will commission a new manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, with an initial installed capacity of 100,000 units later this year to meet the demand for electric two-wheelers in the local market.
The company currently has a single manufacturing unit, with a total installed capacity of 20000-25000 units in Bengaluru.
Launching New Product
Ather recently launched 450X Electric Scooter. X’ means more speed, comfort, and range and two new color options, though – green and grey. The previous version Ather 450 has itself been the quickest scooter in the country with a 0-40 km/h time of 3.9 seconds, but now, the Ather 450X does it in 3.3 seconds.
How innovative the company is?
Right after the lockdown, it has announced a partnership with Bounce, a self-drive bike rental startup in Banglore, signifying that you can now rent out your Ather 450 on the Bounce platform whenever it’s lying idle. This innovative ownership model lets you earn even when the scooter isn’t being used (as well as free, fast charging at Ather Grid points for a year.)
Let’s see if Ather Energy can grow as a brand at par with existing Automobile giants in India. Still, the current change in the price of crude oil may be a crucial factor in the coming days. Also post-COVID, the components imported from China may be an issue. So, it is to be seen how the innovative company tackles it.
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