Ola Electric may lay off 500 staffers in major rejig

Ola Electric is conducting an restructuring exercise which is expected to affect over 500 employees across various roles within the organisation, according to sources.

This would be over 12 per cent of staff at the firm which has about 4,000 people.

“This is a restructuring exercise ongoing for the last few months and is expected to conclude by next month,” said a person familiar with the development.

“The aim is to remove redundant roles, improve efficiency, increase margin and attain profitability.”

The firm undertook restructuring exercises in 2022 ahead of its IPO as well.

Ola Electric Mobility Limited launched its IPO on August 2, 2024, concluding subscriptions on August 6, 2024.

Shares were listed on the BSE and NSE on August 9, 2024.

The company released its first financial results post-IPO on August 14, 2024, for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 (Q2 FY25).

It reported a 38.5 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to Rs 1,240 crore, driven by a 73.6 per cent rise in deliveries (98,619 units delivered compared to 56,813 units in Q2 FY24).

Despite robust financial growth highlighting the demand for its EVs, the latest restructuring appears aimed at optimising costs to secure long-term profitability.

Ola Electric  had 782 firm-owned stores until September 2024, with each store delivering 130 sales on average per quarter, roughly 2-3x of the industry average.

Ola Electric would expand its company-owned store (and colocated service infra) network to 2,000 by March 2025.

Ola Electric recently said it has the broadest portfolio in EV scooters with 6 models across a price range of Rs 75,000 to Rs 150,000.

The company is now focusing on entering other 2/3W categories, and over the next 2 years, will launch 20 products, with at least 1 new product launch every quarter.

Ola Electric further reiterated that cell has been an integral part of the company’s vertical integration strategy.

The company said it was on track to commence use of these cells in the E2W portfolio by Q1FY26.

All production systems at the Ola Gigafactory are fully operational and trial production reached a new milestone in Q2FY25 with over 20,000 cells manufactured.