Ola Electric mobility ke servicing ka chakkar abhi bhi unko pareshaan kar raha hai. Ek time ka e-2W market leader ab competitors se peech reh gayi, because sales continuously down ho rahi hai.
Is saal kaafi time tak Ola ko logon ki yeh perception se fight karna ke unke products ki quality or service customers ki expectations ke according nahi hai. Abhi-Abhi unhone kuch initiatives start kiya hai so that consumers ke trust wapas jeet sakein.
Ola ko kaafi time se consumers ki taraf se criticism mil raha hai, or reasons bhi kaafi saare hai. Ek toh unke paas already 1 million se zyada vehicles road par chal rahe hai. Aur phir CCPA bhi unki inquiry kar raha hai, because last year consumer complaints 10,000 se upar chali gayi thi. Aur overall yeh perception ban gaya hai ki unki service quality theek nahi hai, backlog bhi daily increase ho raha hai.
Chairman or MD Bhavish Aggarwal ne September quarter ke results ke baad in issues ko address kiya. Analysts ke saath call mein unhone bola ki company ke pass servicing ke liye aane wale 4 mein se 3 vehicles ko sirf 2 din mein hi sort kar diya jaata hai. Unke yeh bhi kehna tha ki Ola ke Gen 3 products mein woh problems nahi hai jo Gen 2 mein aa rahi hai. Saath hi unhone announce kiya ki ab Ola ab third-party garages ke saath tie-ups kar rahi hai so that servicing time or improve ho, especially jab unhone recently apne proprietary spare parts public ko available kar diye.
"Aggarwal ne maan liya ki Ola ke pass pending vehicles ka backlog competitors se zyada hai. Saath hi woh yeh bhi complain kar rahe the ki electric vehicles ko repair karne ke liye trained technicians mill hi nahi rahe."
"Thoda backlog toh hota hi hai, or monsoon ke baad har OEM ke pass kuch na kuch backlog hota hai. hamare case mein yeh thoda zyada hai. Parts availability bhi ek reason hai, or technician availability bhi. But hum ispe kaafi focused hai, or jaise hi monsoon end hoga, yeh backlog automatically reduce ho jayega.
But structurally hum kya kar rahe hai hum apne parts openly available bana rahe hai or third-party garages ko open kar rahe hai, jahan consumers ko actual business value milegi. Isse coustomers ka pain solve hoga or humein bhi profit hoga" Agarwal ne kaha.
Woh bhi yeh point highlight kar rahe the ki e2w ke liye trained technicians ki availability ek big challenge hai. Unka kehna tha, "the biggest problem is trained technicians for Evs. India ki sabse badi EV company hone ke saath, or itni badi fleet operate karte hue, Ola ko sabse zayda technician-related challenges face karne padte hai." Overall industry mein hi EV-trained technicians ki shortage hai, that's the reason ki Ola ko yeh talent pool khud hi grow karna pad raha hai.
"Ek industry analyst ne bola ki haan, Aggarwal jo keh rahe hai ki trained EV mechanics milna mushkil hota hai, woh baat sahi hai. but baaki competitors ko Ola jaisi servicing backlog ya issues face nahi karne padte"
"Baaki competitors ke paas toh kaafi saare service centres hai. Par Ola ke un 4,000 dealership or service centres ka kya hua jo pehle announce kiye the? Numbers toh kaafi solid lag rahe the, almost legacy players ke network jaisa,"isne socha.
Meanwhile Aggarwal ne yeh bhi admit kiya ki servicing network banana kaafi challenging raha hai. Unhone bola, "Ola ka brand promise simple hai, ek dum accha product, performance, range or technology ke according competitive or value bhi top-notch, so that customer ko reasonable price mein ek solid two-wheeler mile, plus accha ownership experience. In 3 cheezon mein se do toh humne kaafi acche se deliver ki hai. Ab hum ownership experience par kaam kar rahe hai, jo basically service network hi hai, or haan yeh thoda tough raha hai hai."
Product quality feedback or service standards ke bare mein baat karte hue unhone bola ki zyada complains Gen 2 products se related hai. "Gen 3 products mein defect rates almost half ho gaye hai, chahe wo 1-month defects ho ya 3-months defects, har important metric par improvement hai. Aur defects ka nature bhi kaafi different hai. Gen 3 mein agar koi defect hota bhi hai toh wo easily fix ho jaata hai. Gen 2 mein humein battery or motor par extra focus rakhna padta tha, jisse kabhi-kabhi vehicle immobile ho jaati thi. Ab Gen 3 mein vehicle usable rehti hai or service karna bhi bohot easy ho gaya hai. Overall, Gen 3 products is way more advanced in this aspect."
Gross margin rises, market remains static
Bhavish Aggarwal ne highlight kiya ki auto business ka "Profitability ki taraf progress" kaafi strong hai, Q2 mein gross margin 30.7% tak pahunch gaya. Unhone kaha ki yeh "bahut saari ice companies se bhi better hai. or past 2-3 quarters se hum isi strategic focus par kaam kar rahe hai." Auto business ab cash-generative bhi ho gaya hai, operations se 15 crore ka underlying cashflow aaya.
Phir se yeh point out karte hai ki phichle 2-3 quarters se overall market kaafi flat chal raha hai. Aur isi time ko Ola ne use kiya operations ko consolidate karne ke liye, cost efficiency par focus kiya, gross margin improve kiya, new products (Gen 3) market mein launch kiye, motorcycle introduce ki, or frontend operations mein jo issues the unko bhi sort out kiya.
Yeh strategy humein lagta hai ki next growth phase ke liye humein kaafi solid position pe rakh rahi hai, especially jab mass-market, value-conscious customers EVs lena start karenge. toh iss sense se, company, products, gross margin, product differentiation, business model, cost structure-sab kuch next growth wave ke liye fully set hai," Bavish Aggarwal ne kaha.
Vahan data ke according, Ola ki sales January se October 2025 tak approx. 50% decline kar gayi, 2024 ke same period ke comparison mein. October 2024 tak 10 months mein company ne 3,64,568 units sell ki, but this year woh number sirf 1,81,783 units par aa gayi.
Image & News Courtesy: ETauto