‘Isko discount hi de dena…,’ Ather CEO Tarun Mehta responds to Nikhil Kamath’s dig on marketing strategy

Ather Energy’s CEO Tarun Mehta's response to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath's witty jibe on 'X' at the EV maker’s marketing strategy is winning the internet. 

Tarun Mehta shared a popular meme of a Pakistani cricket fan, Sarim Akhtar, in reaction to Kamath’s comment. Along with the popular meme, Mehta posted, “Marketing team be like ‘isko discount hi de dena chahiye tha’ (we should have given a discount to him).

Tarun Mehta responded to Nikhil Kamath's recent comments on social media, appreciating Ather products and making a light-hearted remark on the marketing strategy of the company.

“Everyone of us has pluses and minuses, Ather has sh*t marketing but great product (sorry Tarun). PS: I bought this scooter at MRP, Tarun didn’t give me a discount,” Nikhil Kamath posted on X.

“Will pick great products with terrible marketing every time, sales I hope can be solved for easier than product,” he added, recognising that Ather had great products but a poor marketing strategy.

He also urged people to support homegrown Indian brands as his idea of patriotism. He highlighted the importance of homegrown products such as clothes, jewellery, food, auto parts, and shoes over foreign goods.

“#Patriotism is a different thing to different people, mine today seems to be to dream of young Indian products and entrepreneurs killing it inside and outside India. Enough of the foreign franchise is better, clothes, jewellery, food, auto, content, shoes, and just about everything else,” his post read.

Zerodha has invested around ₹400 crore in Ather Energy by acquiring Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal’s stake, according to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

On his investment in Ather, Kamath said, “For me, it was about supporting Indian talent and backing a company with a vision of sustainable transportation.”

Ather Energy was founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain in 2013 after graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. The company recently announced its plan to set up a plant in Maharashtra costing over ₹2000 crore. The other two plants are located in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

The Zerodha co-founder also appreciated government policies such as FAME II and the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS)

“....when it comes to EV scooters, Indians are embracing the change faster than expected due to economic viability and the govt backed schemes like FAME II and Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS),” said Kamath.