“We have already dispatched 4000 units, which completes our commitment for the month of December” claims Varun Dubey, in a recently concluded interview with CNBC TV18. The brand’s Chief Marketing Officer was subject to a series of pressing questions that have emerged in light of the delays in delivery and discrepancies regarding the range and registration of the Ola S1 range of scooters, that have led to several customers cancelling their order. Here are the key takeaways from the interview
On the discrepancy between the number of scooters registered on VAHAN and the number of deliveries Ola claims to have made
When asked about why only 456 vehicles have been registered on Vahan, the national register for e-services, Dubey chose to provide a long-winded defence stating that not all states update Vahan portal with regards to registered vehicles, at the same time. “Some states run the older version of Vahan which takes a month to be updated” claimed Dubey adding that while the scooters have been dispatched, most of them are only available with a TC plate (temporary registration) which aren’t reported on Vahan either. And that while several scooters have transitioned from TC plate to permanent plates, the change is yet to reflect on Vahan portals.
When questioned about the discrepancy between the number of scooters delivered vs the number the brand claims to have dispatched (4000), Dubey stated that several of them are caught in a “registration loop” even though they have been dispatched from the factory.
On claims of production being ramped-up while delays in delivery continue to persist
Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Agarwal recently took to Twitter to announce that the production of the S1 Pro scooters at the Ola FutureFactory had been ramped up to 1000 units a day. Despite this, several customers, thirty of which responded to Agarwal’s post, stated that they had not received delivery of the scooter, despite the Ola website claiming otherwise. Once again, Dubey reiterated that while the December batch of scooters had been dispatched, many were stuck in the registration process. “Registration is a learning process for us as well” Dubey added, claiming that the advantages of their direct-to-customer model of delivery, which cuts out middlemen like dealers, outweigh the initial niggles faced by the customer
On the Ola S1’s claimed range being much higher than the real-world range
Dubey steadfastly held his ground with regards to the range discrepancy between the scooter’s claimed range and the real-world figures, which, according to Dubey, touch the 135km mark.
“Why are we being held to a higher standard than other conventional automotive manufacturers?” said dubey, adding “all vehicles have to receive a local ARAI certification which always provides a figure which is higher than the real-world mileage. This is standard industry practice.
The silver lining, according to Dubey was that while a 40% deviation from the claimed figures is industry norm, Ola Electric’s real-world figures vary only by 25% from their claimed ARAI figure of 181km range.
On promised features being absent from delivered products
Ola’s statements regarding the availability of key software features that were promised during the scooters’ launch have consistently changed. Before the first set of customer test rides began, the brand claimed that key features like cruise control, hill hold, and visual “moods” will be made available via over-the-air updates by the time the customers took delivery. Now, however, Dubey claims that customers will have to wait anywhere between 3 to 6 months to receive those features, a lot of which were intrinsic to the scooter’s appeal.
When will Ola deliver all 90,000 scooters booked?
Dubey said, with some reluctance, that all the scooters booked in the initial window will be “dispatched” to the customers between Jan and Feb of this year. There is however a clear distinction between dispatched and delivered, as Ola takes no responsibility for how long individual scooter registration processes might take. When pressed about just when Ola Electric will re-open bookings, Dubey remained evasive in his responses. When asked about cancellations, Dubey refused to divulge the exact figure, stating that the number wasn’t very large.
On FADA’s accusations of lack of transparency
Recently, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association accused Ola Electric of not being transparent in their operations, citing the many consumer complaints that have emerged post-delivery regarding the features, finish, and range of the scooters. Dubey denied that the customer issues were large in number, trimming said number down to single digits while lauding the team’s efforts in making the direct-to-consumer approach work, which negates the need for dealers.
“We’ve made deliveries at 2 and 3 am in remote locations. No dealership will do that. That’s the power of the direct-to-consumer model”. The interview concluded with Dubey affirming that production numbers will continue to ramp up with approximately 20,000 units minimum, earmarked per month, adding that production will increase in accordance with the demand.
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