Ola Electric’s Dominance Fades as Country’s E-Scooter Battle Intensifies
DA Gadgets 
India’s
top
electric
scooter
maker
Ola
Electric
logged
its
lowest
monthly
sales
this
year
in
September,
government
data
showed,
as
the
SoftBank-backed
firm
sees
its
dominance
eroded
by
smaller
competitors
and
servicing
network
challenges.
Ola
Electric,
which
made
its
stock
market
debut
about
two
months
ago,
sold
23,965
vehicles
in
September,
recording
a
month-on-month
decline
for
the
second
consecutive
month.
Its
falling
month-on-month
sales
has
seen
its
market
share
decline
for
five
straight
months
to
27
percent
in
September,
from
over
50
percent
in
April,
the
data
showed.
In
that
period,
Ola’s
closest
rivals
TVS
Motor
and
Bajaj
Auto
have
narrowed
the
gap,
reporting
market
share
gains
for
five
and
three
straight
months,
respectively.
Ola
Electric
declined
to
comment
on
the
market
share
loss
and
its
servicing
network.
Slowing
sales
at
Ola,
whose
prices
have
often
undercut
the
market,
pose
further
challenges
to
the
company’s
financial
results.
It
is
yet
to
turn
a
profit.
Analysts
attribute
Ola’s
narrowing
lead
to
rivals
launching
newer
models
priced
closer
to
those
of
Ola,
as
well
as
its
own
strained
service
network
that
is
seeing
scooters
pile
up.
A
ramp-up
in
dealership
networks
has
also
been
key
for
Bajaj
and
TVS
in
challenging
Ola,
according
to
Jay
Kale
of
Elara
Capital.
Over
the
last
year,
Bajaj
has
boosted
the
dealership
count
for
its
Chetak
e-scooters
from
around
100
to
over
500,
as
of
June.
Ola’s
dealership
count
has
only
risen
from
750
to
800.
Last
month,
a
26-year-old
man
was
arrested
for
allegedly
setting
fire
to
an
Ola
showroom
in
the
southern
Karnataka
state
over
unsatisfactory
servicing
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”
for
maintaining
its
market
share.
©
Thomson
Reuters
2024
(This
story
has
not
been
edited
by
NDTV
staff
and
is
auto-generated
from
a
syndicated
feed.)
