Ola Electric's Audacious Scooter Plans on Fire

Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd. (Ola Electric) was launched in 2017 by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd., better known as Ola Cabs, as a venture for making electric scooters. Bhavish Aggarwal, one of Ola Cabs’ founders, acquired a 92.5 per cent stake in Ola Electric and pursued a path of rapid expansion. By 2022, Ola Electric had successfully raised a large amount of capital from investors, developed several subsystems (especially software) of its products in-house, carried out two product launches and generated tens of thousands of bookings from customers, and was building a state-of-the-art plant for making electric scooters. While Ola Electric’s scooters had received positive reviews from a few expert reviewers and generated customer bookings, the company found it difficult to deliver defect-free scooters in sufficient numbers. The company was also mired in a number of controversies, such as some of its scooters catching fire, alleged safety issues with its products, publicly sharing a customer’s private data, and the departure of several executive from the company. Blunt communication by the founder and majority owner Aggarwal made some of the controversies worse. Aggarwal and his team now had to determine how to address the challenges and decide whether to focus on tackling these or on aggressively pursuing greater volumes. In which direction should they steer the company’s strategy?

This case can be used in graduate-level and executive courses on strategic management for teaching topics such as growth strategy, business models, understanding the diversification decision, and strategy in high-technology industries or rapidly evolving industries. After analyzing the case, students should be able to do the following:<br><br><ul><li>Appreciate the influence of a visionary leader on a company’s development and also some of the potential toxic side effects of having a visionary, but abrasive, leader.</li><li>Understand the growing pains of an early mover in a fast-paced technology industry.</li><li>Recommend a strategic path for continued growth for a company in an evolving industry scenario.</li></ul>

• Electric Scooters
• Ride sharing
• India
• Diversification
• Vision