When launched, Honda Activa Electric will rival the family electric scooters like Ather Rizta, Ola S1 X+ and TVS iQube to name a few
India being the largest 2W market in the world, poses a stellar proposition for 2W manufacturers to offer a diverse portfolio, touching a wider audience base. EVs are more of a lucrative option today than they ever did. One of India’s leading 2W manufacturers, Honda, is exploring the promising EV route and the first offering might hit the roads in FY 2025.
Legacy 2W manufacturers such as HMSI (Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India) currently lack an electric offering in India. HMSI is poised to redefine Indian 2W electric mobility space with an upcoming EV based on the mighty Activa brand.
Honda Activa EV Launch Plans
Activa is currently India’s best-selling scooter by a huge margin and has been that way for well over a decade. Associating an EV with the massively popular Activa brand will establish a sense of familiarity. Recent reports suggest HMSI intends to expand its production capacity to incorporate new assembly lines for Activa Electric.
If you may recall, HMSI scaled back its expansion plans ahead of stricter BS6 emission norms implementation. Covid-19-related atrocities soon followed and the company’s expansion plans were put on hold until now. In an attempt to scale up production capacity, HMSI has added two new manufacturing lines at their Gujarat and Karnataka plants.
The new third line at Gujarat plant is projected to bring around 6.6 lakh units of additional volume. A dedicated EV manufacturing line is said to be in the works and might go operational in FY25 to meet growing demands for both 2W ICE and electric vehicles. Combined, the total increment in capacity hovers around 9 lakh units per annum mark.
Will Activa Electric be among the biggest impacts on 2W market?
Post Covid-19, the market is falling back to its former glory and HMSI is eying to get closer to its peak performance of 5.9 million units in FY19. Past financial year has awarded Honda with a 13% growth in domestic sales with around 4.5 million units in volume and a 25% market share of the total 2W industry of India.
Today, India is among the leading economies of the world. Better distribution of incomes, sustained economic growth, normal rainfall, increasing population and increasing consumption among the population can prove to be a perfect recipe for significant growth in the 2W market from both urban and rural areas.
Considering the gargantuan popularity of Activa in India, we would reckon upcoming Activa EV might prove to be India’s biggest scooter launch in almost a decade. Considering the conservative and non gimmicky approach to ICE Activa, Honda might strike the right balance between features and pricing to dominate India’s e-scooter market.
