Ultraviolet Eyes 5 lakh annual sales by 2030, records Q1 record

Ultraviolette Automotive recently closed its best quarter ever. Between April and June this year, the Bengaluru-based electric motorcycle maker sold over 1,500 vehicles, up from about 300 in the same quarter last year. This represents an increase of more than 400 percent.The company’s co-founders, CEO Narayan Subramaniam and CTO Niraj Rajmohan spoke to TOI Auto about the quarter and where the company is headed. Ultraviolette claims that one rival premium motorcycle brand has outpaced its mid-size sales in India and is running neck and neck with another’s mid-size range despite commanding a portion of its dealer networks. “Ultravioletta has 40 stores today. Even with that allocation, we have surpassed (that competitor’s) sales,” Rajmohan said. The other competitor’s claim was more measured. “We are on the same playing field with (their) sales,” Subramaniam said. I added that the company sold about 650 cars from those 40 stores in June alone. It should be noted that these figures are the reading of the “Ultraviolette” company’s own market.The company’s X47 crossover motorcycle is at the heart of this growth. According to Rajmohan, the X47 has been deliberately priced close to comparable petrol bikes, and the company has achieved over 40 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth over four to five quarters. In Ultraviolette’s own line, the X47 accounts for 85 percent of sales, with the F77 accounting for the rest.Growth is not limited to big cities. Subramaniam said bookings are evenly split between Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, a trend he attributes to the earlier rise of electric scooters to create greater awareness. “The moment the scooter segment is established, people start moving towards the more performance-oriented motorcycle segments,” he said. He also cited the company’s extended battery warranty of up to eight years or eight lakh km as a factor in winning over buyers outside the metros.It talks about Delhi’s EV Policy 2.0 which has been approved by the Delhi cabinet and will come into effect from July 1, 2026. While it will not affect vehicles already on the road, it will stop registering new petrol and CNG two-wheelers in the capital from April 1, 2028. Subramaniam called the policy an opportunity and said Ultraviolette never planned to remain just a premium motorcycle maker. Two more products, Tesseract and Shockwave, come at more affordable price points. “In our view, it will not always be electric scale scooters or motorcycles, but both,” he said, adding a sales target of 4-5 lakh vehicles a year by 2030.When asked about certain players entering the electric motorcycle segment, Subramaniam welcomed the competition. “This is a sign that the segment will now start growing rapidly,” he said. Rajmohan compared this to the increase in electric scooter penetration from 1 percent to 15 percent after serious manufacturers entered the market.The founders also described widespread buyer confusion over the government’s ethanol blending push. This uncertainty, paradoxically, favors EVs, Rajmohan added, because electrics offer “one side, a very, very simple and easy purchase.”