To acquire larger market share than Uber, Ola likely to launch e-rickshaws soon

To beat US based Uber in a race to acquire larger market share, cab aggregator Ola is reportedly planning to go big in the segment of e-vehicles. According to a report in the Business Standard, the company will launch e-rickshaw soon and is currently looking for partnerships. 

The report stated that Ola has roped in a former executive of Bajaj Auto to lead a team that will design and develop electric vehicles (EVs), including cars and auto-rickshaws, as it pursues the dream of its largest investor Softbank’s Masayoshi Son to have over one million EVs on Indian roads.

Chinam Netaji Patro, who drove the research and development (R&D) of electrical and electronics at Bajaj Auto, joined Ola last month as its senior director for EVs. 

According to Ola, it brough Patro on-board because, ", "Chinam is an auto industry veteran, who brings in deep understanding when it comes to assessing the right technologies for Ola and collaborating with the right partners so as to bring forward India’s EV ecosystem."

The move cames after the overwhelming response to its Ola autos in Chennai and Bengaluru. Ola now plans to take country-wide coverage of electric auto-rickshaws across the country. 

At present, Bajaj Auto and TVS are the only two major players in the commuter-auto-rickshaw segment.

"It makes a lot of business sense for a company like Ola to build its own electric auto, especially since the government is also pushing for electric vehicles. Ola owns the end consumer and their data, and tomorrow they will most probably become the largest consumers of auto-rickshaws anyway," experts told the paper.

Meanwhile, it looks like the end of the road for Uber, the mobile taxi hailing service in India after a Softbank board member, who is about to join the US-based company’s board, talked of the possible merger between Ola and Uber in the country with SoftBank as the common investor, Financial Times reported.

However, an Uber India spokesperson told Business Standard that the talks of a merger were baseless speculation. . “Our business in India is stronger than ever and we are 100% committed to serving our riders and driver partners in India," he said.

Earlier, Uber closed a deal with SoftBank, commissioning the sale of a significant portion of its sale to the latter, in a bid to implement modifications in management and go public in two years.