Ather defers electric motorcycles and bets on a 'rich bouquet' of scooters (interview)

An Indian electric-two-wheeler maker whose line spans the performance 450 series and the Rizta family scooter.

Ather spent a decade building product, technology and brand in electric two-wheelers while penetration was tiny; by March 2025 Mehta said customers were 'queuing up like never before', with mainstream buyers — not just early adopters — converting on running-cost maths, and newly opened Tier-3 cities adopting faster than metros.

In the interview Mehta set the near-term focus on a 'very rich bouquet' of scooters across user cases, saying motorcycles would follow 'on a new platform in due course' — the Zenith platform — but that it was too early to say which motorcycle segment electrifies first for the next two to three years. He rejected hybrids and CNG as 'a distraction' and 'poor capital allocation', and said teams had cut costs about 24% in three years (self-reported), leaving what he called one of the best cost structures in the space.

Scooters are electrifying fastest and have the clearest economics: Mehta said TCO breaks even within the first years even at a ₹20,000 price premium.

Motorcycle electrification is unpredictable — with few electric bikes on the road, no segment can yet be picked as the first mover, per Mehta.

Segments reward specialists: the motorcycle market's history shows deep segments with 'very clear leaders and winners' rather than one product for all.

A 24% cost reduction in three years (self-reported) gives headroom to fund a wider scooter range without breaking pricing.

When a young market starts splitting into segments, breadth in the segment you already win beats guessing which adjacent one turns next.

As of 20 March 2025 this was strategy laid out in an interview rather than a completed move: Ather had the 450 performance line and Rizta family scooter in market, held motorcycles for the Zenith platform, and reported fast adoption in Tier-3 cities. All market-share, penetration and cost figures were Mehta's own; the coverage included no third-party verification or results of the bouquet strategy itself.