Ola Electric’s dominance is fading as the e-scooter battle intensifies in the country
India’s largest electric scooter maker Ola Electric posted its lowest monthly sales this year in September, government data showed. The SoftBank-backed company is seeing its dominance eroded by smaller competitors and network challenges.
Ola Electric, which made its stock market debut about two months ago, sold 23,965 vehicles in September, marking a month-on-month decline for the second month in a row.
Declining month-on-month sales have seen its market share fall for five consecutive months to 27 percent in September, compared to more than 50 percent in April, the data shows.
During that period, Ola’s closest rivals TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto have narrowed the gap, reporting market share gains for five and three consecutive months, respectively.
Ola Electric declined to comment on the market share loss and its service network.
Slowing sales at Ola, whose prices have often undercut the market, pose further challenges to the company’s financial performance. Profits still need to be made.
Analysts attribute Ola’s shrinking lead to rivals launching newer models closer to Ola’s, as well as its own strained service network that is seeing scooters pile up.
Expanding the dealer network has also been crucial for Bajaj and TVS to challenge Ola, said Jay Kale of Elara Capital.
Over the past year, Bajaj has increased the number of dealers for its Chetak e-scooters from around 100 to over 500, starting in June. The number of Ola dealers has only increased from 750 to 800.
Last month, a 26-year-old man was arrested for allegedly setting fire to an Ola showroom in the southern state of Karnataka over unsatisfactory maintenance of a recently purchased e-scooter.
HSBC analysts said in a note last month that Ola’s service would be one of the “key drivers” in retaining its market share.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
