10 Apr 2024
It is pulling out of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand markets and focusing on strengthening its India business with an IPO.
Ride-hailing giant Ola Cabs is pulling out of all international markets for three reasons.
First, the rising competition from Uber and emerging startups in these markets pushed Ola to reevaluate its strategies. Second, the growing governmental push on electric vehicles (EVs) in these nations meant converting its entire fleet to EVs, which demands significant investment. Third, it wanted to focus on the burgeoning Indian market, especially the EV segment.
This move can save Ola USD 15 million yearly. In FY2023, Ola incurred GBP4.8 million worth of losses in the UK.
Ola suffered major leadership exits. In 2018, it hired the former eBay Country head, Simon Smith, to lead the Australian market and the former COO of Google Europe, Ben Legg, to head the UK operations. Both quit in around two years. Chandra Nath was brought in from Silicon Valley to head global operations. He left in less than a year.