Piaggio Vehicles bets on a new weight-optimised three-wheeler architecture, while safeguarding supply chains against rare earth shortages, scaling exports, and expanding its domestic network to 300 touchpoints to stay ahead in the fiercely competitive e-three-wheeler market.
13 Aug 2025 | 9545 Views | By Darshan Nakhwa
Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of the Italian two- and three-wheeler major Piaggio Group, plans to invest in developing a new three-wheeler architecture aimed at improving efficiency and reducing weight across its electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) models. Chairman and Managing Director Diego Graffi said the upcoming ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of the Italian two- and three-wheeler major Piaggio Group, plans to invest in developing a new three-wheeler architecture aimed at improving efficiency and reducing weight across its electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) models. Chairman and Managing Director Diego Graffi said the upcoming investment marks the “next phase” of the company’s product strategy.
“So far we have been mostly investing into powertrain, efficiency of a driveline, and battery pack…But now the next phase is also to invest into vehicle architecture,” Graffi told Autocar Professional. “So far our vehicle architecture has been more or less the same, common to ICE models. Now we see that there are some specific needs in terms of weight reduction that are required.”
“It's easy to improve the range, by investing into battery capacity. Instead we want to improve the range, maintaining the same battery capacity…We want to work into optimizing our vehicle architecture. Maintaining the same overall concept and configuration, but reducing weight by far,” he said.
Graffi clarified the new vehicle architecture will not be EV-specific. Instead, it will be used for both EV and ICE three-wheelers, designed to improve performance, mileage and range–without requiring larger batteries.
The Piaggio chief was candid about what he sees as a common but short-sighted approach among many of the 569 electric three-wheeler brands in India–simply increasing battery capacity to boost range. “When they want to provide a better range to the customer, they simply increase battery capacity. This is the easiest solution, but it also means higher cost of acquisition and significantly higher replacement costs after five years when the battery reaches end-of-life,” he said.
Instead, Piaggio has focused on improving driveline efficiency, reducing energy losses, and extracting more performance from a smaller battery. “Our e-three-wheelers use 1.5-2 kWh less battery capacity compared to competition for the same real-world range. Customers may not immediately see the benefit, but they will when the time comes to replace the battery,” Graffi said.
The company is also navigating the global rare earth elements crisis, which has disrupted supply chains for electric motors worldwide due to geopolitical tensions and trade disputes between China and the United States. Graffi acknowledged the challenge but said Piaggio’s forward-planning with suppliers has so far ensured adequate stock levels.
“We have secured quantities for the near term, but if the crisis drags on for a long time, then obviously everybody will be impacted…In parallel, we are exploring other kinds of powertrain solutions that are rare earth magnets-free. But it takes some time, obviously, to be put in place. But we are exploring,” he said.
Amit Sagar, Executive Vice President, CV Domestic Business and Retail Finance, added that Piaggio’s relationships with suppliers allow it to maintain strong inventory buffers. “In this industry, disruptions can come from anywhere, COVID taught us that. Our long-term visibility to suppliers gives them the ability to stock up and adapt quickly. As of today, we have no issue in meeting our manufacturing requirements despite the rare earth shortage,” Sagar said.
While India has overtaken other markets to become the largest for electric three-wheelers, Piaggio’s growth strategy remains measured. For FY26, the company is targeting electric three-wheeler volumes above last year’s around 22,000 units (wholesale), but without sacrificing margins. In FY25, the company clocked retail sales of 18,457 units, down 26% on year.
“We want to increase our network reach, but at the same time, optimize cost and make the EV business profitable comparable to, or only slightly less than, ICE models. But the target is to surpass the volumes of last year,” Graffi said.
In the electric three-wheeler segment, Piaggio offers eight Ape branded model variants with fixed and swappable battery solutions. In India, it competes with the likes of Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, Bajaj Auto, YC Electric Vehicles, Saera Electric Auto, Dilli Electric Auto and many others. At the end of FY25, the company was ranked sixth in terms of retail sales in India, where a total of 699,073 electric three-wheelers were sold.
In the first six months of calendar year 2025, Piaggio has reported a nearly 32% year-on-year drop in retail sales to 7,357 units, according to Vahaan data–at a time when several startups gained market share. Graffi attributed the decline to a combination of factors.
“One factor was our conscious product introduction cycle–we develop new variants every two years to maintain stability for customers and dealers. That meant we introduced our latest variants only in mid-2025. Earlier, the gap we had in performance and features over competition has narrowed in the meantime,” he said.
The other major factor, Graffi noted, was an ongoing price war in the three-wheeler industry. “We consciously stayed out of it because it’s not a game for us. We do not sell at a loss–unless each vehicle we sell is profitable, we won’t push volume. The price war created a wrong expectation in the market that an e-three-wheeler should cost the same, or just a little more, than an ICE model. That’s not sustainable.”
To address the declining sales, in July the company launched two new models under its ApéElectrik range. The Apé E-City Ultra comes with a certified range of 236 km and is powered by a 10.2 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. It delivers peak power of 9.55 kW and 45 Nm of torque, with a top speed of 55 kmph. The Apé E-City FX Maxx offers a certified range of 174 km and is equipped with an 8.0 kWh battery. It produces peak power of 7.4 kW and 30 Nm torque.
Alongside domestic sales, Piaggio is gradually building an export footprint for its electric three-wheelers. The company has begun shipments to markets in Africa, including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Sudan, as well as a pilot programme in Sri Lanka aimed at working with authorities on EV-specific import duties. Talks are also underway in Indonesia.
“Kenya, for example, is very bullish on battery-swapping technology, even more so than India,” Graffi said, noting that Piaggio is tailoring its approach to each market’s unique EV ecosystem.
Piaggio’s domestic sales push will be supported by an expansion of its electric three-wheeler sales and service network from 250 to 300 touchpoints by the end of FY26. The new outlets will primarily be in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, where EV adoption is now accelerating.
“In the livelihood vehicle segment, uptime is everything. Every day a customer’s vehicle is in the workshop is a day of lost earnings. Our widespread network ensures customers can get quick assistance anywhere,” Graffi said.
With hundreds of players vying for a share of the e-three-wheeler market, Piaggio believes its differentiation lies in a combination of brand strength, technological innovation, financial viability, and aftersales support.
“Ape is a brand with decades of trust. On top of that, we offer proven products–80,000 of our electric three-wheeler customers have already logged 3.5 million kilometres since 2019–and strong partnerships with NBFCs and banks, which is crucial because most buyers depend on financing,” Sagar said.
Meanwhile, despite the EV growth push, Piaggio sees no need to expand its existing annual capacity of 2.5 lakh three-wheelers, as the shift from ICE to EV is happening within its current production scale. “The volumes are stable, it's just the mix that is changing,” Graffi said.
Looking forward, Piaggio’s R&D will continue in three directions–further efficiency gains in the driveline, localisation of lithium-ion cell production through its partnership with Amara Raja, and the new weight-optimised vehicle architecture. Graffi said these will together form the backbone of Piaggio’s India strategy over the next few years, enabling it to compete effectively in both domestic and international markets.