Ola Electric Widens Loss, Launches E-Motorcycle on Aug 15

Mumbai, Aug 14 (PTI) Ola Electric Mobility on Wednesday reported a higher consolidated loss of Rs 347 crore for the April-June quarter of 2024-25 compared to Rs 267 crore in the same period last year.

Revenue from operations for the quarter under review was Rs 1,644 crore against Rs 1,243 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, according to an exchange filing.

The two-wheeler electric vehicle maker said its total expenses during the first quarter grew to Rs 1,849 crore compared with Rs 1,461 crore in the June quarter of FY24.

The company made its market debut earlier this month. Ola shares closed higher by 2.38 per cent at Rs 110.64 on BSE on Wednesday.

The company in a statement said its automotive segment (E2W) posted a strong improvement in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin and is close to EBITDA breakeven.

Automotive segment EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at a negative 1.97 per cent from a negative 8.29 per cent in the same quarter of FY, the company said.

The June quarter has been a "good quarter" in terms of growth and profitability, Chairman and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said in a post-earnings call.

He also said that as the next frontier for EV penetration, Ola Electric is now focused on the motorcycle segment in the country, which accounts for about two-thirds of the overall volumes of the industry.

He said the company will launch its electric motorcycle portfolio across mass and premium segments during its annual flagship event on August 15, 2024.

"The auto segment revenue is almost at the cusp of EBITDA positive despite the reduction in FAME subsidy quarter-on-quarter," he said.

The quarter witnessed the highest-ever deliveries of vehicles by the company at 1,25,198 units as against 70,575 units delivered in the same period last year, Ola Electric Mobility said.

Aggarwal said that Ola Electrics' market share during the quarter touched a record 49 per cent.

The company also said it ramped up deliveries of its mass-market scooter (under Rs 1-lakh) portfolio(S1 X portfolio) during the quarter which helped accelerate the growth, adding that the existing product portfolio also saw strong demand which continued growth momentum throughout the quarter.

These benefits of scale are further amplified by the company's scalable platform-based product development and manufacturing technology that results in high degrees of commonality across its products, it said.

The company also announced on Wednesday the integration of its cells in its vehicles by the first quarter of next fiscal.

Aggarwal said that mass-market products are increasing penetration in the market for the company as well as for the industry, adding during the first quarter the mass-market scooter volume stood at 50,000 units while for the premium segment scooters at 75,000 units.

In July, he said the industry saw the highest level of penetration broadly after some spiky months as E2 wheeler penetration was 7.5 per cent while the scooter penetration went up to 21 per cent in the last month, adding that there is an increased penetration even in Tier-II and Tier-III markets with mass segment scooters that the company launched during June quarter.

According to Ola, the increasing scale of operations has benefited the company in the form of lower manufacturing costs and supply chain optimization.

Aggarwal said that the company will be launching a portfolio of motorcycles across markets and segments which will be delivered by the end of this financial year.

He also said that the manufacturing capacity is fungible across scooters and motorbikes and so the company does not need any large capex to scale motorbikes into the existing capacity.

Aggarwal said that the company will continue to see gross margin improvements over the next quarters with the big step in this direction will happen when the company goes for its own cell, the production of which has already started.

He said that the cell, which accounts for 30-35 per cent of the total cost, has been very core anchor of Ola Electric's strategy to drive lower cost and as a result of this the country has seen higher penetration of EVs.

As the country starts producing cells locally, over a period of time, we can save 20 per cent of that 30-35 per cent and all of that will close down to the bottom line, adding that the company has already manufactured some 30,000 cells from the beginning of this quarter.

"We are ramping up the production. The cell has been fully tested and integrated into our vehicles by the first quarter of next financial year," he added.