Okinawa recently announced that it has sold more than 1,000 e scooters in India after the government relaxed the lockdown rules across the country. This announcement corroborates the assertion made by, well, pretty much everyone, that two-wheelers as well as entry-level cars will be the superstars of the automotive industry in the post COVID-19 world. While the post COVID-19 world may still be some time away, but a lot of people are slowly going back to their old routines as the government continues to relax rules piece by piece, hence the demand. But we will save that discussion for another day; let’s get back to Okinawa e scooters now.

Okinawa said it was able to achieve this feat with only 60 per cent to 70 per cent touchpoints operational in its network. The electric two-wheeler manufacturer has more than 350 dealerships across India, by the way. The company started the process of resuming operations across dealerships on 11 May, 2020 with only 25 per cent workforce and stringent measures for safety against COVID-19 infection.

Jeetender Sharma, Managing Director, Okinawa, said, “We have witnessed a good demand in the market for Electric scooters. We have retailed over 1000 electric scooters despite limited dealerships operational during the current COVID 19 outbreak. This has indeed encouraged us, as we understand that the market is gaining its strength back. We also anticipate that, due to COVID-19 outbreak, a lot of people would want to avoid using public transport, which might increase the demand of new vehicles for Personal Mobility. With the increasing awareness around the economic viability of electric vehicles, we might witness a sharp inclination towards EVs among the buyers.”

The two-wheeler manufacturer assured that its dealership network had been issued a strict set of measures and protocols to ensure safety as they resume operations. Some of these precautions include sanitization of all products before they are dispatched from the plant. The Okinawa electric scooters are santised once again when they arrive at dealerships. And as for staff and customers at Okinawa dealerships, the company has implemented a thermal screening system along with several other measures.

Okinawa, which has dispatched 1,200+ e scooters in the first month of operations after the lockdown in India, says it intends to step up its marketing activities in an endeavor to boost EV adoption in the country.