Shared this in response to a similar question today:
The price of Ather 450X and the current on-road price of Ather 450 are not comparable because the Ather 450 is extremely underpriced at Rs.1.13 lacs on-road. We did this to introduce a premium product in a price-sensitive market when we launched. In fact, if we had continued with 450, we would have increased its price anyways. Considering the experience of Ather 450 users, we’re convinced that the price of Ather 450X - a much superior product compared to the Ather 450, is justifiable for the value and experience it offers.
You can choose to buy the 450X with the upfront pricing and no subscription. We are working on restructuring the pricing, but the upfront cost will not change. We might vary the upfront price/monthly subscription rental.
Thank you @abhishek.balaji for all your patient and detailed replies, and in the frustration of the unexpected pricing I was probably harsher than I intended to be.
Your replies are convincing and acceptable. However what I am not convinced is to just have a premium product, you have priced it to a limit that the scooter is unnecessary to people other than who are nothing but EV enthusiasts.
I still strongly believe that you should have brought into market two variants, the bare basic and the premium one.
Currently the fight is not about having a premium EV, but to own an EV itself.
You don’t start selling a Mercedes before you start selling a Maruti 800.
But anyway, will wait to see your new pricing plans.
@abhishek.balaji must be got tired now by doing copy-paste answers:)
Idea of underprice/undercut of 450 is new to me. I haven’t heard this word before.
You guys should have declared at the time of launch of 450 that price are introductory & may increase in future. This could have positive effect on 450x instead of hate.
The Eco range in 450X goes up. However, from our current customers, we realize that most commuters charge the vehicle overnight. And their daily usage is well below the current range - even in the current sports mode.
Every OEM in the world who’s attempting an EV is trying to pack more range in their vehicles. Trust us, even we are! It is not that we are not focusing on higher range. Perhaps no one in the world can give you more range than what 450X does in the shell of the 450X.
450 as well as 450X were designed for urban commuting. All the research shows that there are very very very few people who use their ‘scooters’ for commuting for more than 60-70 km per day ‘Within the City’. In fact, we’ve been selling 450 for almost 2 years now and less than 97% people ride it for more than 50 km per day. They charge overnight and are tank-full the next morning - and this cycle continues.
So, the bottom line is that very few people need a significantly higher range in a ‘City Scooter’. Despite that we are trying to pack more range in our battery and you’ll continue to see improvements in future as well.
For those who travel longer distance, perhaps something like a motorcycle would be more convenient. And trust us, when we make a bike, it’ll be the best out there!
Bluetooth access is not just about enabling the hardware, but there’s a lot of software development and maintenance costs that go into it. Today, both the Plus and Pro have the same hardware, and the subscription plan allows you the flexibility of choosing either based on your usage.
In the future, if there’s enough demand for the Plus variant, we’ll consider differential hardware between the Plus and Pro, to further drive down costs. This practice is actually pretty common in the auto industry.
That’s the flexibility of subscriptions! For example, if we figure out how to get you extra range, you can simple switch to that subscription for a few months, and come back to the performance ones later on!
Right now, we’re starting with 2 plans
Collector’s edition has a theme of “inside out”. Along with this:
Hey @abhishek.balaji … Thanks for answering all the questions… It’s really appreciated… Hats off to your dedication to satisfy the community members.
Will there be an option for yearly subscription plan for pro and plus(Like with with slight discount if you choose to pay for year upfront )?
Kindly cancelled my ORDER for 450X I don’t want to go for this. Your bike is so Expensive.
Government wants to make this nation ecofriendly & I support it but we are not that much rich peoples Thanks for your product & time. I wasted my time on your product. No doubt bike is good but expensive.
Normal Person Can’t Afford it, if they understand the real truth behind your hidden plans, which I Understood.
My Ather 450 payment window is Open. I have also pre-orderd 450X collectors edition. For me current 450X price and subscription plans are expensive and cant wait till July 2020
Need suggestion from forum, should I go ahead and do payment for 450 or should I wait for 450X(if any changes in subscription or price changes) ?
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