Bangalore-based smart electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy has announced its dealer partners for the western region of India in Maharashtra and Gujarat. These is in addition to its earlier update confirming deliveries of the Ather 450X and opening full payments for pre-orders.

The OEM says it aims to bring a premium retail experience that Ather Energy has built through company-owned experience centres will now be delivered through dealer partners. This required collaboration with progressive dealers with experience of premium products and a deep understanding of consumers in their respective markets. To that end, Ather Energy has collaborated with Kataria Group in Ahmedabad, Kamal Motors in Mumbai and BU Bhandari in Pune. It aims to open Ather Space its experience centres across the country in the coming months. The next 8 cities will see the Ather 450X test rides in the coming weeks, with deliveries beginning in November. The test rides will be hosted at convenient locations across the cities, prior to the official experience outlets opening later in the year.

The company says it will design the retail space and experience for its dealer partners, with a focus on its holistic experience-led model. Ather Space will allow prospective consumers to test ride and get hands-on with Ather’s intelligent & connected product portfolio. At present, the company operates Ather Space in Bangalore (Indiranagar) and Chennai (Wallace Garden Street). In the Pune market, BU Bhandari will be partnering to set up Ather Space. The OEM says they have been associated with the automotive industry for the last 50 years, and have partnered with Volkswagen and Triumph among others, Whereas, Kamal Motors who will be operating the Ather Space in Mumbai has been the No.1 dealership for Tata Motors in commercial vehicle for fiscal 2019-2020 and have been associated for last 18 years. For the Ahmedabad partner the Kataria group is said to be one of the largest dealerships in the country representing OEMs such as Maruti Suzuki India, Porsche, Bharat-Benz, Honda and TVS two-wheelers. In the last 25 years the group has built a copious base of over a million customers serving them through around 100 touchpoints across Gujarat.

In terms of charging infrastructure – the Ather Grid – the company will setup fast charging in all of the cities. Each city is likely to get about 10-15 Ather Grid points before delivery. Some of the confirmed location for Pune are Kalyan Bhel, Little Italy, Kalinga Restaurant, Copacabana, Bliss Bakery Cafe, Hotel KBs Woodland, Eat & Repeat Cafe and for Mumbai - Little Italy restaurants and Ahmedabad’s locations include Sangeetha Mobiles, Little Italy and Royal Archid.

Ravneet Phokela, chief business officer, Ather Energy: “Intelligent electric vehicles are a new category and we have spent the last couple of years pioneering a new model in Chennai and Bangalore, which is focused on experience. We were looking for partners who share Ather’s passion for delivering superior customer experience. When we announced the dealership format, we received a phenomenal response from strong, industry-leading dealer partners, and we are pleased to partner. We are very pleased to partner with Kamal Motors, B U Bhandari and the Kataria Group and they have been extremely supportive and have been offering us their expertise to expedite the opening of their respective markets. We hope to recreate the magic we were able to in Bangalore and Chennai. We will soon share the location of the experience centres in each of the cities.”