New Delhi: According to a Bloomberg report, Indian ride-hailing platform Ola is likely to push back the mass production of electric scooters until at least January.
Sources who asked not to be identified told Bloomberg that the Bengaluru-based firm is trying to place the remaining orders by February. Ola Electric has already delayed the initial deliveries from October to mid-December.
According to sources, Ola, which has financial backing from SoftBank and Tiger Global, is struggling to iron out manufacturing wrinkles, as the company’s body shop is operating at half capacity, its paint shop is not operating and There is a global chip shortage. ,
Analysts have pointed out that the over-reliance on imported components is creating great difficulty for Ola in rolling out the e-scooters on time. It is not that Ola is the only one facing trouble. The Indian automotive industry is grappling with a global chip shortage.
Reports reveal that customers waiting for their e-bikes are already expressing unhappiness. When Ola started taking orders in September, it said that the deliveries would start in October, which was later delayed to November and then to December 15.
Several disgruntled customers, some of whom paid the full Rs 99,999 in advance, took to social media.
Founder Bhavish Agarwal, during the Reuters Next conference earlier this month, blamed the lack of a chip entirely. “The lack of a chip has been an unexpected beast for everyone.”
Anthony de Ruijter, a senior associate at Third Bridge Group, a UK-based global investment research firm, said, “If you have a consumer base that is not happy with delivery timelines it is never good for anyone. I hope it does. Not just Ola Electric, but will be an issue for the sector.
Ruitzer said, “India still has a lot of reliance on imports and combination models, not just within Ola’s ecosystem but among automakers in general. This in turn creates a lot of factors that the manufacturer cannot control. And that often results in a product that is not optimized for the local market.”
The potential of Ola Electric, valued at more than $5 billion in a recent fundraising round, to deliver on its promise, will also impact its parent company ANI Technologies as it prepares to launch investors ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO). ready to seduce. Mumbai next year
Agarwal had earlier said that Ola plans to go public before 2022.
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