Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. is set to grow its sales network by five times before the year ends, in an attempt to tide over its service problem.
On Dec. 25, India's largest electric two-wheeler maker will open more than 3,200 stores, marking “one of the fastest rollouts of EV distribution globally”, according to a media statement on Thursday. Each of these outlets will have a service centre attached to it for after-sales support.
Ola Electric, at present, maintains a direct-to-customer network with more than 750 stores across India, according to the media statement.
“On 25th December, we are taking India's EV revolution to the next level. All across India, your favourite and India's No.1 EV brand is launching 4,000 stores,” billionaire founder Bhavish Aggarwal said in a video message posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“Every town, every city, every tehsil or taluka, there will be an Ola Electric store and an Ola Electric service centre, so that every single Indian can buy an EV for his or her future.”
Inaugurating record-breaking 4,000 @OlaElectric stores on Christmas 25th December!#SavingsWalaScooter will now be accessible to every city, town and tehsil!
Come be a part of the electric revolution at a store near you ⚡🔋💪 pic.twitter.com/1pABH4kGgHOla's electric scooter, according to Aggarwal, comes with the promise of higher savings compared to traditional commuter motorcycles and scooters.
“With EVs, you will save Rs 4,000 per month. Your savings will increase, and you'll save money, with this savings wala scooter,” Aggarwal said in the video message. “I'm inviting each one of you. Please do come to our store near you.”
Delayed Launch
The store expansion is actually delayed by five days.
On Dec. 2, Aggarwal tweeted plans to increase Ola Electric's sales network to 4,000 from 800 by Dec. 20. The stock exchanges were also informed about the timeline.
“Taking the electric revolution to the next level this month. Going from 800 stores right now to 4,000 stores this month itself. Goal is to be as close to our customers as possible,” he had posted on X then. “All stores opening together on 20th Dec across India. Probably the biggest single day store opening ever! (sic).”
Taking the Electric revolution to the next level this month.
Going from 800 stores right now to 4000 stores this month itself. Goal to be as close to our customers as possible.
All stores opening together on 20th Dec across India. Probably the biggest single day store opening…“All stores have service capacity too,” he said in a follow-up tweet.
A Service Problem
Ola Electric's expansion plans are seen as a fix to its service problem.
In late September, NDTV Profit conducted a ground report that unearthed a graveyard of sorts of Ola Electric scooters. Conversations with more than a dozen Ola Electric customers revealed that India's best-selling electric scooter was plagued with malfunctioning hardware and glitching software. Spares were hard to come by, resulting in inordinate delays. Across India, service centres were overwhelmed with nearly a lakh complaints every month.
What followed was a show-cause notice from the Central Consumer Protection Authority that sought an explanation from Ola Electric on over 10,000 complaints received by the National Consumer Helpline. The EV maker later said that nearly all the complaints were resolved, but the CCPA found discrepancies in those claims.
To be sure, Aggarwal—in a post-earnings call on Nov. 8—acknowledged that Ola Electric's service centres were facing overcapacity.
To address that, Aggarwal said the company would double its sales outlets to 2,000 by the end of fiscal 2025 from 780 then, and open 1,000 service centres by December this year. That now stands revised to 4,000 sales and service centres in total.
‘Year Of Product'
To be sure, the store expansion comes ahead of the “year of product” for Ola Electric.
The first batch of Ola Electric's motorcycles will roll out of its Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu-based Futurefactory in March 2025. The third-generation of scooters will hit the road even before that. An electric three-wheeler is likely by the middle of next year, and high-end motorcycles soon thereafter.
That's in addition to the gig scooters that the company launched recently. These will be powered by in-house cells by April 2025—a first for any Indian EV maker.
“The next year is going to be the year of product for Ola Electric,” Aggarwal said during an event earlier in December. “So, this whole year, we've been focused on consolidating our operations, making them efficient, and also engineering the product behind the scenes.”
“Next year, you will see, in twelve months, we will launch maybe one product every month.”
On Thursday, Ola Electric shares fell 1.59% to Rs 95.10 apiece on the BSE even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 1.20% lower at 79,218.05 points.
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