Ola Electric: 4th Largest EV Company—If You Pretend China Doesn’t Exist
Ola Electric: 4th Largest EV Company—If You Pretend China Doesn’t Exist
On August 15, Ola Electric Mobility unveiled its latest series of motorcycles at the Ola Sankalp event, where the company’s founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, made ambitious claims about Ola’s global standing in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Aggarwal, 38, declared that Ola Electric is the world’s largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer and the fourth-largest EV company globally by revenue. However, his assertion was accompanied by a notable caveat—these figures are accurate only when excluding the Chinese market.
*Excluding China 🤣?
— Tesla Club India® (@TeslaClubIN) August 15, 2024
Well Ola has done good stuff and good numbers & yes they are largest 2w EV company in India, but what's the need of this pic.twitter.com/JN04m7iUUS
During his presentation, Aggarwal highlighted Ola Electric’s achievements and future ambitions. “We are now a listed company and the world’s fourth largest EV company outside of China,” he stated, positioning Ola Electric prominently in the global EV landscape. The accompanying slides, however, subtly noted “excluding China” in the fine print, a detail that was overshadowed by Aggarwal’s broader claims.
Micromax is the 3rd largest mobile phone company in India*
— Azhar Jafri (@zhr_jafri) August 15, 2024
*excluding Chinese brands pic.twitter.com/eYvbvr75t8
The presentation’s omissions quickly stirred controversy on social media. Critics pointed out that China’s dominance in the global EV market—home to the top three EV manufacturers, including BYD, which significantly outpaces Tesla—was conveniently ignored. Posts on the platform X (formerly Twitter) mocked the presentation, highlighting the exclusion of China as a major oversight.
There’s never a day that Indian companies won’t embarrass you 🤦♂️ They removed a whole country larger than India from the chart to make OLA the “4th” largest EV company 😭 pic.twitter.com/Vsqzpji15E
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) August 15, 2024
Journalists and social media users expressed their dismay over the inflated claims. One user, Abhishek, criticized the presentation’s selective statistics, noting, “To present Ola Electric as the 4th largest EV company in the world by revenue, they have excluded China, which houses most of the top EV companies.” Another commenter drew comparisons to other companies, saying, “There’s never a day that Indian companies won’t embarrass you. They removed a whole country from the chart to make Ola appear as the ‘4th’ largest EV company.”
Despite the controversy, Ola Electric’s new motorcycle series marks a significant expansion for the company into a market segment that has been largely dominated by electric scooters in India. This move comes shortly after Ola Electric’s public listing, signaling its intent to diversify and grow in the competitive two-wheeler segment.
