SUMMARY
Ola has entered a deal worth over INR 125 Cr with Dbset Cars
We are in process of disposing off our existing fleet which is now obsolete: Ola Spokesperson
The move comes at a time when Ola is also looking to strengthen its electric vehicle (EV) segment
Ola Fleet Technologies, the cab leasing arm of Ola, said it would sell 5,000 cars to Dbest Cars India in a deal worth over INR 125 Cr.
“We are in process of disposing off our existing fleet which is now obsolete and for the same we have selected Dbest Cars to be our partner as they are an established company and expert in the used commercial vehicles industry and they have a good reputation of efficiently working with other big corporates like Avis, Orix, Uber etc,” Gulshan Rao, director at Ola (Risks & Brand Protection) said.
Rao also noted that the sale of used commercial cars is totally different from the sale of normal used cars (white plate). For sale and purchase of used commercial cars, there are a lot of obligations which need to be carefully fulfilled, he said.
Dbest Cars is an online to offline marketplace for the buyer, seller of used cars. It offers a platform where small used car dealers in India can buy and access pre-owned commercial vehicles. It has a presence across eight states and plans to start operations in 15 states by 2025.
Pre-owned car market in India was valued at $23 Bn in FY22. The market is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.5% till FY27, according to the IndianBlueBook report. Moreover, introduction of BS-VI emission norms and scrappage policies have also fueled the demand for used cars in India.
The move comes at a time when Ola is also looking to strengthen its electric vehicle (EV) segment. Earlier this month, the company announced its entry into the premium EV category with a fleet of 10,000 cars. Back then Ola was in the final stage of rolling out the pilot of the new category.
It was also reportedly planning to pilot an EV cab service in Bengaluru with 1,000 cars at that time. Then, Ola planned to launch the EV service to be available on its Ola app itself as a separate category besides regular cabs and autos.
Further, if we talk about the company Ola, it has recently laid off around 200 employees from its tech and product teams as part of a restructuring exercise, with engineering roles being impacted the most, Inc42 reported. The laid off employees are from Ola Cabs, Ola Electric, and Ola Financial Services verticals.
