Ola Electric suspends production; cites annual maintenance as the reason

According to sources, Ola Electric has halted the manufacture of electric scooters at its Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu plant for about a week. While the corporation stated that the plant was closed for yearly maintenance and the installation of new machinery, three people with knowledge of the situation stated that inventory pile-up was the primary cause for the downing of tools.

Ola Electric has approximately 4000 scooters piled up at its ‘Future Factory,’ not counting the thousands of units set to ship to consumers who have pre-ordered the scooter. According to a source close to the situation, when Ola Electric shut down the line on July 21, its daily output was about 100 units, compared to a current installed capacity of 600.

Ola began pilot production at the ‘Future Factory’ plant in Krishnagiri, Hosur district, Tamil Nadu, in October and regular production in December. It has barely been around eight months since production began in earnest.

“Like most automakers, we performed annual factory maintenance.” This is not the same as shutting off manufacturing. As a result, confirming that (information) is false,” an Ola spokesman answered an inquiry from ET Prime. The corporation could not provide any information on daily output or booking statistics. It did not comment on the duration of the manufacturing halt but stated that it was brief.

Ola Electric, which received about 150,000 bookings with advance payments due to strong pre-launch marketing, has experienced a large number of cancellations due to complaints about the performance and quality of the vehicles. The company began distributing scooters in late December. Within the first few months, a fire involving an Ola scooter sparked considerable condemnation and a government investigation.