2026-10-28
On September 28, 2026, FUNTI welcomed a returning dealer partner from Sri Lanka at its headquarters and manufacturing base in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China. It was the client's second visit, and it moved the discussion from first impressions to planning: a walkthrough of the showroom, a multi-model test ride on the test route, and a working session on the models and volumes for the year ahead.
Rather than concentrating on one machine, the client rode several FUNTI models in sequence — different platforms, different power levels, different riding positions — through standing starts, low-speed manoeuvres and open-yard runs.
That is the pattern a distributor uses to judge a supplier, because the questions that decide a business are not the ones on a specification sheet. They are whether the throttle responds the same way every time, whether the brakes feel consistent when the bike is loaded, and whether a full day of riding still feels composed at the end of it. In a market where a scooter is a working asset rather than a weekend purchase, consistency is the specification that matters.
By the end of the visit, the client's attention had settled on two models: the ZERON PLUS and the upgraded KYRON PLUS. Both are now being evaluated against Sri Lankan conditions and customer expectations, and FUNTI will confirm the final specification and configuration for the market with the client in the coming weeks.
Two models, rather than a full catalogue, is a useful place for a partnership to land. It gives the distributor a clear conversation with its own dealers — one platform to position at the top of the range and one to carry volume — and it lets both sides put spare-parts planning and service training behind a defined product line instead of spreading them thin.
"A first visit is about whether a product is credible. A second visit is about whether a partner can build a business on it — spare parts, service, financing, and a model mix that actually fits the market. That is the conversation we had this time." — FUNTI Export Sales Department
The two sides agreed on a clear next step. In January next year the client will set out a full-year purchase plan for 2027 — model mix and volumes, broken down by quarter — and FUNTI will align production scheduling and delivery commitments to that plan.
For a distributor, an annual plan is what makes local marketing, dealer-network building and spare-parts stocking possible; it is the difference between selling motorcycles and building a brand. For a manufacturer, it is what turns an order into a schedule, and a schedule into delivery dates that can actually be promised. Both sides described the goal in the same terms: to grow together, and to establish the partner as a leading name in Sri Lanka's green electric mobility market.
In Sri Lanka, two-wheelers are not a lifestyle category. They are the working backbone of personal mobility, which means the addressable market is not a niche of enthusiasts but the daily commute itself.
The market also reopened at a useful moment. Sri Lanka lifted its vehicle import restrictions in February 2025, and under the current tariff structure electric vehicles are assessed on motor power in kilowatts rather than engine capacity. That removes the engine-size excise that dominates the landed cost of a petrol vehicle, and it is the reason an electric two-wheeler can compete on price as well as on running cost rather than solely on novelty. Fuel prices, meanwhile, have made the cost per kilometre of a petrol scooter a live household expense.
The practical consequence for a distributor is straightforward: the window in which an electric two-wheeler is a curiosity has closed, and the market is moving to considered purchase. The advantage goes to whoever has the right product line, the spare parts and the service capability in place before demand peaks — not after.
Emerging markets rarely adopt electric two-wheelers all at once. They do it city by city, through the riders who measure cost per kilometre — couriers, delivery fleets and daily commuters — and then through the dealers who discover they can sell the product once the parts and service exist behind it. Sri Lanka fits that pattern, with an additional push from a tariff structure that treats an electric powertrain more kindly than an engine. A distributor that commits to an annual plan this early is not gambling on the market; it is buying the position it will need when the market arrives.
FUNTI is a manufacturer of electric motorcycles based in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 units. The company's product line spans entry-level commuters to high-performance flagship models, exported to markets across Asia, Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East.
FUNTI specialises in OEM/ODM partnerships, offering customised configurations including battery options, motor specifications, regional homologation support and branding solutions for international distributors. For Sri Lanka and the wider region, this includes configuration review against local climatic and road conditions, documentation support, and after-sales material prepared for distributor service teams.
Tell us your target segment, volume and local requirements — we will come back with model recommendations, configuration options and a quotation within 24 hours.
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