The international chip shortage has hit leading electric scooter company Hero Electric's sales severely with its April dispatches of vehicles at zero. The waiting period has increased to 60 days with some dealers having no stock to display, said the company on Friday.
Sohinder Gill, CEO,
Hero Electric, said in a statement that the company was unable to meet the market demand. "It’s like putting an emergency brake on a fast moving train," said Gill.
Gill added that the company's sales were almost doubling month-on-month but the Russia-Ukraine war collapsed a major supply chain resulting in the disruption again, that was also seen last year.
Gill also apologized to customers for a longer waiting period for their orders, and assured that the company has geared up alternate sources to resume production soon. However, no further details on the alternate sources were given.
Talking about the recent fire incidents that have led to concerns over safety issues around electric vehicles, Gill said the company is revisiting its systems and processes related to batteries to further reinforce the quality assurance.
"The recent happenings of fire incidents is an awakening call for the industry and we believe that even the best of the companies should introspect and constantly improve their designs and quality to repose confidence in the electric mobility that is going through such a robust growth path," he said.
India's electric two-wheeler sales have skyrocketed in the recent times with March 2022 seeing a massive 370 percent growth compared to the same period last year.
Hero Electric led the sales in March with 13,023 units, a 149 YoY growth, the highest, followed by Ola Electric with 9,127 units and Okinawa with 8,284 units.
First Published: Apr 29, 2022 1:37 PM IST
