Ather Energy eyes expansion in North, Northeast India

Electric vehicle maker Ather Energy is charting the next step of its expansion strategy—deeper penetration into northern states like Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as northeastern states, CEO and Co-founder Tarun Mehta said during the company’s post-earnings call.

“We believe an expansion of distribution here (North India) can drive and pay dividends for us over all of next year and present us and put us in a really good position as we get ready with new products, specifically our yield platform and our low-cost products in the coming year,” Mehta said.

The Hero MotoCorp-backed company has been eyeing network expansion, planning to double its experience centres to 700 across India by the end of FY26. Ather added 95 stores in Q1, bringing its total store count to 446.

Over the last few quarters, the EV company has been focusing on expanding its store network in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, which the company deems “middle Indian states”.

According to Mehta, this has helped with Ather’s market share expansion during the quarter. “We ended Q1 with a 10.7% market share, up almost 2.5X over the same quarter last year, and expanding rapidly.”

While the Rizta-maker has seen an uptick in demand for its two-wheelers, Mehta said the company saw 12% of its revenue in Q1 coming from its non-vehicle segments, which include accessories, warranty programmes, and software.

“Software is trending very favourably for us and has been actually holding up really well despite an expansion into all parts of the country today with very high attach rates. So are accessories. Ather’s helmet, Halo, sales have also commenced, and they are also adding to this,” the CEO added.

Additionally, the company’s LFP battery pack—a key driver of its margin improvement—has gone live. Mehta, during a pre-IPO press meet, had said Ather is transitioning to cheaper LFP batteries compared to traditional NMC batteries, which, along with the lower-cost EL Platform for its scooters, will help improve its margins.

According to Mehta, the transition’s impact will begin reflecting in the company’s Q2 and Q3 financials, as the percentage contribution from these vehicles to sales starts becoming more visible.

Ather Energy, on Monday, reported a 78.8% rise in its Q1 FY26 revenue to Rs 644.6 crore. It managed to marginally narrow its net losses for the same period to Rs 178.2 crore compared to Rs 182.9 crore in the year-ago period.