The company could have plugged into Hero MotoCorp’s 6,000 dealerships, decades of manufacturing scale, and entrenched vendor relationships, but chose not to.
23 Apr 2025 | 3567 Views | By Ketan Thakkar & Kiran Murali
In an era when every EV startup seems eager to partner, license, or piggyback off legacy giants, Ather Energy is doing the opposite. Despite having Hero MotoCorp — the titan of India’s two-wheeler market — as a major shareholder, Ather has drawn a deliberate line between the investor and the ...
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In an era when every EV startup seems eager to partner, license, or piggyback off legacy giants, Ather Energy is doing the opposite. Despite having Hero MotoCorp — the titan of India’s two-wheeler market — as a major shareholder, Ather has drawn a deliberate line between the investor and the operator: No shared tech, no joint retail, and no shortcuts.
For Tarun Mehta, Ather’s co-founder and CEO, this isn’t a rebellion—it’s strategy, a focused and fiercely independent one. At first glance, it seems counterintuitive. Why wouldn’t a young electric startup tap into Hero’s vast manufacturing muscle, dealer network, and marketing heft? But speak to Tarun Mehta, Ather’s co-founder and CEO, and the picture becomes more apparent. “Largely, they are shareholders. They have a presence in the capital and on the board,” Mehta says.
The boundary between Ather and Hero is not a matter of friction — it’s one of focus. Mehta firmly believes that Ather’s identity lies in being a consumer-facing product company, not a backend tech vendor or licensing partner.
“If I start doing tech, what business am I in?” he asks. “Am I a product or a consumer brand? Or am I a technology house doing technology licensing? You must have clarity of focus.”
For Mehta, blurring that line would dilute the company’s purpose and, more critically, its value.
A Retail Network Built Brick by Brick
Perhaps even more telling is Ather’s approach to distribution. While legacy players like Hero sell EVs alongside their petrol-powered lineups in existing dealerships, Ather has had to build an exclusive, standalone retail and service network.
“Just doing a shop-in-shop and putting a scooter in a showroom where those guys are selling 15 other ICE products...would not be a great idea.”
Instead, Ather chose to control every element of the buying and ownership experience — from showroom design to sales training to servicing SOPs.
“We went through the blood, sweat, and tears of figuring out how to sell this product,” Mehta says. “What kind of showroom do we need? What kind of margins are required for an EV-exclusive store to become profitable?”
On the other hand, it would have been easier to plug into Hero’s infrastructure. But Mehta is playing a long game. In a market still discovering what the EV customer truly wants, Ather is betting that deep product ownership, software-led innovation, and an uncompromised retail model will pay off in brand loyalty—and margins.
Yet, as Ather gears up to go public, some industry observers are questioning whether the company may have left value on the table by not tapping deeper into Hero MotoCorp’s vast ecosystem.
With over 6,000 dealerships, decades of manufacturing scale, and entrenched vendor relationships, Hero could have offered Ather shortcuts to scale and cost optimization — at least in distribution and sourcing.
“In an industry where time-to-market matters, it’s worth asking if full independence delayed competitive advantage,” one investor tracking the EV space noted.
Strategy, Not Stubbornness
For Ather, the price of speed may have been brand dilution — a trade-off Mehta was never willing to make. “We’re not interested in being just another EV,” Mehta has said elsewhere. “We want to build something that lasts.”
For now, that means staying true to its DNA, even if it means resisting the convenience of a corporate giant’s embrace. Ather’s strategic independence is therefore more than just a differentiator — it is the company’s defining trait.
While others hedge bets, chase subsidies, and toggle between ICE and EV portfolios, Ather has chosen its lane — and is accelerating into the future on its own roadmap. In a market where everyone is looking for shortcuts, Ather is proving the long road might be the right one.