e-Scooter maker Ather says high costs pushing back profit timeline

Indian electric-scooter maker Ather Energy said a surge in raw material costs and supply chain disruptions were delaying the company’s path to profit despite high demand for its vehicles.

“I was hoping to break even later this year itself. I would add a few quarters to that now,” its Chief Executive and co-founder Tarun Mehta told Reuters.

Electric-vehicle manufacturers globally have seen a spike in demand as more people shift to cleaner transport, but a sharp increase in commodity prices and severe supply chain disruptions have slowed their growth.

Ather has witnessed an addition of “several hundreds of dollars” in material costs due to firmer commodity prices, some of which have been passed on to customers, Mehta said.