Cumulative retail sales of the three Japanese electric scooter manufacturers in India – Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha – have crossed the 10,000-units mark for the first time in a calendar year. As per the latest Vahan statistics, this triumvirate have delivered 10,735 units to their customers between January 1 and October 8 in 2026.
Last year, Honda, which was the sole e-2-wheeler OEM in India, had sold 7,730 units of the Activa-e and QC1, less of the former and more of the latter. While Suzuki entered the market in January 2026 with its e-Access, Yamaha plugged in two months later in March with its EC-O6. This makes 2026 the first year when all these three Japanese OEMs are part of the Indian electric scooter market.
A look at the OEMs’ monthly performance reveals that Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has sold 5,536 units in this year to date, accounting for 51 percent of the total 10,735 Japanese e-scooters delivered. HMSI’s best monthly sales this year were in September (1,107 units), marking the first time the OEM has crossed 1,000 units. This number can only improve following the recent launch of its third e-scooter for India – the QC3.
The initial rollout of the QC3 will be limited to five cities across the country: Delhi, Agra, Cuttack, Surat and Kollam, with a nationwide rollout to follow in a phased manner..
Suzuki Motorcycle India, which entered the India e-2W market with its e-Access in January this year as an alternative to the popular petrol-engined Suzuki Access 125, has delivered 4,133 units till October 8. This gives the company a 39 percent share of the three Japanese OEM’s total e2W retail sales. The monthly sales chart reveals that monthly sales have crossed 600 units for three months running: July (606 units), August (674 units) and September (657 units). Rather creditable considering this is an expensive product, priced at Rs 1.88 lakh (ex-showroom) and the costliest amongst the Japanese EVs.
India Yamaha Motor, which plugged into the e-2W market this March, has retailed 1,066 units, which gives it a 10 percent share of the 10,735 units delivered by Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. Yamaha’s vehicle of entry is the EC-06, its first electric scooter developed in collaboration with River Mobility. IYM’s highest monthly sales to date were in September (232 units)
Japanese OEMs have 0.66 percent share of e-2Ws sold in 2026 so far
As the monthly retail sales data table depicts, combined Honda-Suzuki-Yamaha sales were at their highest in September 2026 (1,996 units), which gives them a 1 percent share of the record 2,07,850 e-2Ws sold in India last month. Of the total 16,10,854 e-2Ws sold between January 1 and October 8, these three Japanese OEMs with 10,735 units have a meagre 0.66 percent share.
Among the reasons for their minimal presence in this booming segment of the Indian EV industry is that Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha entered the e-2W market late, as compared to their ICE legacy rivals TVS Motor Co (January 2020), Bajaj Auto (January 2020) or Hero MotoCorp Vida (November 2022).
While market leader TVS has sold 4,22,274 iQubes and Orbiters for a 26 percent market share of the e-2W sales in 2026 to date, Bajaj Auto has delivered 3,61,988 Chetaks (22 percent share), Ather Energy has sold 2,67,579 units (17 percent share) and Hero Vida 1,77,541 e-scooters (11 percent share).
There is also the issue of their stiff model pricing in a value-conscious market, which has a plethora of more affordable e-scooters which are also more tech-laden, as well as a limited sales network compared to the Indian legacy OEMs as well as a host of startups which are regulars in the monthly Top 10 e-2W OEM chart.
