Ola Electric Shares Tank 5%, Hit All-Time Low Amid Reports Of Mass Layoffs

Shares of Ola Electric Mobility tanked over 5% to hit a fresh all-time low of INR 53.71 apiece on the BSE on Monday (March 3) amid reports that the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company is planning to axe over a thousand employees and contract workers to contain losses.

As per a Bloomberg report, the latest round of layoffs at Ola will impact employees across multiple departments, including procurement, fulfillment, customer relations and charging infrastructure.

It is pertinent to note that the electric mobility company fired over 500 employees last November. 

Ola is also looking to fire front-end sales, service and warehouse staff at its showrooms and service centres as part of its cost-cutting exercise, the report said.

This comes at a time when Ola Electric is grappling with mounting losses, declining electric vehicle (EV) sales and increased scrutiny from the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for alleged consumer rights violations.

Ola saw its consolidated net loss balloon by over 50% to INR 564 Cr in the December quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 376 Cr in the year-ago quarter, hurt by lower revenue due to rising competition in the electric two-wheeler segment.

Its operating revenue declined 19% to INR 1,045 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 1,296 Cr in Q3 FY24 amid declining EV sales.

Ola Electric informed the bourses last week that it sold over 25,000 EV units in February and maintained its dominance in the electric two-wheeler segment with a 28% market share.

However, as per Vahan data, legacy automotive players Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor as well as IPO-bound Ather Energy surpassed Ola Electric last month in terms of EV two-wheeler registrations.

Amid rising competition in the E2W segment, Ola Electric ceded the top position to Bajaj as registrations for its escooters tanked over 65% to 8,390 units in February as compared to 24,376 units in January.

It is to be noted that the company had forewarned that its vehicle registrations on the Vahan portal were likely to be “temporarily impacted” in February as the company was renegotiating its contracts with service providers Rosemerta Digital Services Pvt Ltd and Shimnit India Pvt Ltd.

In its Q3 FY25 shareholders’ letter, Ola Electric said it expects its auto segment to achieve EBITDA breakeven 50K monthly deliveries. In its bid to achieve profitability and strengthen its presence in the EV market, the company rolled out its maiden emotorcycle series ‘Roadster’ last month.

At 3:02 PM, Ola Electric shares were trading at INR 55.05 apiece on the BSE. The stock, which debuted on the exchanges in August 2024, is trading 28% lower than its listing price of INR 75.99 apiece. From its 52-week high of INR 157.53, it has crashed over 65%.