Ola Electric slips to 4th place with 5,753 e-scooter registrations

Ola Electric's registration figures have fallen by 33 per cent on the last day of June compared to the last day of May

Ola Electric fell to fourth place with the registrations of 5,753 electric scooters as of the evening of June 30, according to the VAHAN data, overtaken by its rivals Okinawa, Ampere, and Hero Electric. Hero Electric improved its position after two dismal months.

The Bhavish Aggarwal-founded start-up, which bla¬zed into the market with electric scooters and huge booking numbers as claimed by the company, has seen its rank in terms of registrations go down month after month. In April it was on top, the position it lost in May to Okinawa, and in June it has hit number four. Ola’s registration figures have fallen by 33 per cent on the last day of June compared to the last day of May. 

An Ola Electric spokesperson said: “We were prepared to see the impact of supply chain constraints, especially on cell shortage in June. We calibrated our business priority for the month to focus on bettering our customer service and bought our TAT to within 48 hours. Come July, we are confident that supply chain issues will start fading out and our strong order book will be fulfilled.”

The sobering news is that after a sharp fall in registrations in May over April by 24 per cent (based on the VAHAN data for eight electric scooter players, which account for the bulk of the volumes), they are marginally up in June at around 32,807 vehicles over 32,680 in May. The data does not include the sales of Bajaj Auto and TVS.
 

If the registration volumes are stable, it is because of the substantial jump in the numbers of Hero Electric, which more than doubled from a mere 2,739 in May to 6,049 in June, giving it third place. The company had seen a sharp fall because of a huge chip shortage. Ampere also showed an increase in registrations from 5,529 in May to hit 6,199 in June, an increase of 12 per cent, which took it to second slot.

Ather Energy moved up by 18 per cent from May to hit 3,651 vehicles. And Revolt has seen a big increase in registrations, to 2,332 vehicles. While Okinawa retained top spot, its registrations fell by 24 per cent in June over May.

Experts say the pent-up demand for vehicles is now over. For instance, Ola has been able to deliver the initial large bookings which were pending and the long wait is now over. The numbers currently reflect the normal demand.

A vehicle manufacturer said: “It’s common when a new product, and in this case a new product in a new category, comes, there will always be initial huge demand and bookings. Once this is met, the numbers will come to normal levels. It is not a mass scooter and has a stiff price tag of Rs 1 lakh. The test of success will be seen in the next few months on how the numbers hold on and increase.”

Most experts agree the incidents of fire and questions of security have dented the market. And the shortages in chips has not gone away.