Bajaj Chetak launches electric scooter
Remember the famous advertisement song 'Hamara Bajaj'? The motorcycle manufacturer invoked nostalgia on Wednesday as Bajaj Auto Ltd has announced the launch of its new electric scooter named, Chetak. This is almost after a decade that the country's second-largest motorcycle manufacturer has come up with a new launch. Bajaj Chetak was introduced in 1972 and had stopped manufacturing traditional scooters in around 2009, as it shifted its focus to the motorcycle segment.
The new Chetak will be available with two variants, which will offer a range of 85 kilometres and 95 kilometres, respectively.
Vehicles like scooters and three-wheelers are more used in the urban space, so there is a potential for such vehicles in the electric space, said the manufacturer's managing director Rajiv Bajaj.
“When we do something it’s better to come first and there is virtually no point coming second or third. It’s very important to be first to market. Scooters and step-through are a very important segment and we have not made the electric Chetak to be in the volume space. We are trying to build meaningful niches with three-wheelers, superbikes and electric scooters," Bajaj said.
Bajaj will begin the sale of electric scooters in January next year from Pune and will later shift to Bangalore. The vehicle will also be sold from the Pro Biking dealerships of the company from which it also sells the KTM superbikes.
“Biggest hurdle (for the adoption of electric mobility) is the conflicting idea in the minds of manufacturers since they are making money from petrol and diesel vehicles. The fact that Bajaj doesn’t sell scooters is our bigger strength. We are starting here because there is no conflict of interest. When you enter into a new market you don’t make money from day one. The price will not be viable from day one," Bajaj said.
Bajaj, however, did not reveal the price of the newly-launched scooter.
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The forgotten 'Hamara Bajaj' song
