Ola Electric’s February sales included models that were not rolled out at the time: Report
The Bloomberg report comes amidst the EV-maker’s dwindling market share as legacy brands like Bajaj and TVS grab a bigger piece of the pie.
EV-maker Ola Electric has counted yet to be released models of its product lineup, including its third generation e-scooters as well as Roadster X series, in its February sales numbers, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
The article noted that the Bengaluru-based company counted 10,866 of its third generation e-scooters and 1,395 Roadster X motorcycles as part of its monthly sales figure. The Roadster X has not been rolled out, according to the report, while the e-scooter deliveries began in March. However, Roadster X’s production was announced in January and deliveries were expected to begin soon after.
The sales from these categories were cited as “confirmed orders”, accounting for 50% of the firm’s 25,207 orders during the month, according to a letter sent by Ola Electric to the Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways (MORTH) on March 21, as reviewed by Bloomberg. The ministry asked the company to clarify its sales numbers for February.
In a statement sent to Bloomberg, Ola Electric said that the sales for the month was calculated based on the full payment received from customers.
Ola Electric did not respond to YourStory’s request for comment at the time of publishing this story.
The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company has been under regulatory scrutiny after its monthly sales figure for February on the Vahan portal showed that it had sold only 8,390 units in the month.
However, the company, in a release, said it had sold 25,000 units, retaining its market leader position with over 28% of the electric two-wheeler market.
The discrepancy in the sales data was due to ongoing renegotiations with its registration agencies as part of steps to reduce costs and streamline its operations.
On March 21, the company confirmed it had received inquiries from Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) and the MORTH over the differences in sales data and non-compliance with trade requirement certificates.
The company also confirmed that there was no ongoing regulatory or legal proceedings.
In a letter dated March 31, as seen by Bloomberg, the ministry asked Ola Electric to revise its monthly sales figures and include only those vehicles that were invoiced in its February data.
Shares of the EV-maker is down 5.93% at Rs 49.33 apiece on BSE as of 11:20 AM IST today.
(Disclaimer: Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, is an independent director at Ola Electric.)
Edited by Megha Reddy