Ola Electric aims for increased sales with budget-friendly e-scooters in India.

By VarunVyas Hebbalalu ⁣and Riddhima Talwani

Ola Electric, India’s largest maker of electric scooters, ⁤launched its most affordable rides on Tuesday,⁣ in ⁣an effort to woo more buyers⁤ as the price⁣ of e-scooters moves closer to gasoline models.

The SoftBank Group-backed company also plans to⁢ launch four e-motorcycles by end-2024.

The new e-scooter ​models, S1X and S1X+, ‍will be priced ‍at ​99,999 rupees ($1,199.15) and 109,999 rupees, respectively, with the cheapest variant of S1X ​about 36% lower than Bangalore-based Ola’s most expensive e-scooter, the S1 Pro, which sells for 140,000 rupees.

The least expensive gasoline ⁤scooter in India costs ​about 64,000 rupees.

Gasoline‌ two-wheelers account for the bulk of automobile sales in India and crossed 5 million units last fiscal, of which electric models ⁢made up around 15%, ⁣industry data showed. ⁤

The government wants ⁢this to grow to 70% by 2030 and is offering incentives ​to ‌boost sales.

Ola has launched cheaper scooters​ through a new ⁤generation‌ platform, reducing production costs ⁣by 25%, ⁤founder and Chief Executive‍ Bhavish Aggarwal told Reuters.

The company, which first began selling electric scooters in 2021 and competes with start-ups like Ather ⁤Energy, leads the e-scooter market with a 32% ​share. Valued at ​$5 billion ⁣last year, ​Ola sold‍ around 95,000 e-scooters from April-August 2023, industry data showed.

While‍ the new models will boost Ola’s⁢ market share, Aggarwal said his focus ⁤is to increase EV penetration in India and ​wants electric ​models to comprise the majority of scooter sales by next year.

“Our ⁤goal is eventually to‌ bring the upfront⁢ price of an EV equal to internal combustion engine models … without any government incentives.”

The IPO-bound⁣ company‌ also plans to ⁣expand its plant’s annual production capacity to 2 million units from ⁢500,000 currently, and double the number of experience‌ stores to 2,000.

Ola recorded an operating loss of $136 million on a revenue of $335 million in the fiscal ended ‌March 2023,​ Reuters reported.

However, Aggarwal said the business has “scaled very well” so far‌ and expects financials to be better. He did not specify a‍ timeline.

Ola also said it has opened 100 more ⁤service centres across India, taking ⁢the tally to 500.

($1 ⁣= 83.3916 Indian rupees)

⁣ (Reporting by Varun Vyas in Pochampalli, Riddhima Talwani in New Delhi ​and​ Biplob‍ Kumar Das in Bengaluru, editing⁢ by Aditi⁣ Shah and Sonia Cheema)

A grassroots fight​ over parental and transgender children’s rights is brewing in New Jersey. One America’s Caitlin Sinclair has more.

A Grand Jury may be indicting Trump in Georgia, while developers‌ could be trying to cash in on the recent Hawaii fire.

A list of criminal charges ‍in Georgia against 45th President Donald Trump briefly appeared⁢ Monday on a Fulton County website ⁢but the charges were promptly removed.

Shocking video captured a mob ​of robbers inside a very popular mall in Los Angeles.

By Christopher Bing and⁢ Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) – ​Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon said late ⁤on Monday the FBI had warned…

By VarunVyas Hebbalalu and ⁤Riddhima Talwani POCHAMPALLI, TAMIL NADU (Reuters) -Ola Electric, India’s largest maker of electric scooters,⁣ launched its most affordable…

By ​Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Only a few months​ after beginning her career as ‍a livestream sales host in January,‌ Zhang…

By Yuvraj Malik‍ (Reuters) -Technology firm Sea⁣ Ltd signaled on Tuesday⁢ it will boost ⁣investments in ⁤its core e-commerce business which may… ‌