The sale of electric vehicles has registered a remarkable growth in the steel city during this Dhanteras mirroring the impact of the fuel price hike. The business was so impressive that bookings in both four-wheeler and two-wheeler segments outnumbered the delivery.
ASL Motors, a showroom-cum-service centre for Tata Motors' car, sold 11 electric cars on Dhanteras on Tuesday, but failed to deliver six more as there was a dearth in the supply of vehicles. "We had booked 17 electric cars but could deliver only 11 of them, causing disappointment to six of our valued customers. We expect the remaining customers to be handed over their cars within a month," said Manish Kumar, head of sales, ASL Motors speaking to The Telegraph Online on Wednesday.
Kumar, when queried, said the Tata Motors' manufacturing unit in Pune did not get adequate number of semi-conductors that the company imports from Malaysia owing to complete lockdown in that country. "As a result of the short supply of semi-conductors to the company's plant in Pune, production was hampered and the supply of the cars to the showroom also got a beating," said Kumar.
Showrooms of Hyundai and GM Hector, the automobile companies which also produce electric cars diverted several customers to Calcutta and Ranchi because they have proper facility for keeping stock of electric vehicles. The sale of electric scooters also received an impetus during Dhanteras. "We had in all 48 bookings for electric scooters, but could deliver only 22 of them because of supply shortage," said Amit Khandelwal, senior sale executive of Sakchi-based Ambika Motors to The Telegraph Online.
Khandelwal added that the sale of electric scooters during Dhanteras was unexpectedly high mainly because of the apprehension of customers about further hike in the fuel rate.