HYDERABAD: Gurgaon-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer Okinawa Autotech plans to enter the south Indian market to drive growth. The company, which has its production facility in Rajasthan and about 65 distributor outlets in north India, is planning to add 60-70 distributors in south India.
“Right now we are present in all states in north India and parts of eastern and western India. We have sold about 2,000 scooters till now. South India is a very big market for scooters and now we are focusing on expanding here,” said Jeetender Sharma, MD, Okinawa Autotech.He noted that the company is already in talks with several dealers from all South Indian states and they’ll start selling electric scooters soon. It is targeting sales of 12,000 electric scooters by the end of FY18.
“Awareness about electric vehicles is increasing and we are confident that scooters will be the most sought-after in its segment. The government is also trying to create a demand for 5-7 million e-vehicles in all categories by 2020. Besides setting up a new facility in Rajasthan, we plan to set up an assembling unit in south India depending on the demand. We’ll invest over Rs 275 crore in the next one to two years for increasing capacity, distribution network, research & development and promotion,” added Sharma.
Okinawa has its own production facility at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan which has a capacity to manufacture 1.8 lakh scooters per year. It is planning to set up another unit, which has a capacity of one million units per year in Rajasthan, as it sees good potential for electric vehicles in the future. It has an R&D facility and its electric scooters are approved by ICAT. Okinawa promises to offer a maximum speed of 55+km/hour and a mileage of 80 km per single charge. These vehicles can be registered in all states and vehicle loans and insurance facility are available.