The Indian electric two-wheeler (e2W) space is witnessing a major shake-up, with a surprising twist in February 2025 sales rankings. Ola Electric recently revealed its February sales numbers. The company's sales graph has recently been dipping slightly. However, the latest data shows that Ola sold 25,000 electric scooters last month. This makes it the leader in its segment. Contrasting this, the VAHAN data shows Ola Electric to have sold just 8,647 units. It further states that Bajaj Auto sold 21,335 units of the Chetak electric scooter. Thus, as per VAHAN data, Bajaj tops the electric two-wheeler sales chart. So what is happening here? Why the discrepancy? We explain...
The Context:
A lot has lately been happening at Ola Electric- product unveils, launches and setting up more stores and experience centres. In an official announcement, it stated that it has captured over 28 per cent market share in the 2-wheeler EV segment. Selling 25,000 units means that the manufacturer's market share rose by 3% over January 2025 figures.
The EV company's official spokesperson, in a statement, said: "We have successfully maintained a strong sales momentum & leadership position through the month of February. Owing to our wide scooter portfolio across mass and premium segments, and our network of 4,000 stores across India, we are now witnessing a strong uptick in demand beyond urban cities from Tier 3 & 4 towns.
With our Roadster X deliveries scheduled next month, we are confident of further accelerating the EV adoption across the 2-wheeler category in India"
As revealed by Autocar Professional, the data from VAHAN contradicts this claim. Over 1 million (10 lakh) electric two wheelers were sold in India in the financial year 2025. This translates to a healthy 26% year-on-year growth.
In February 2025 alone, 75,995 units were sold, of which 8,647 were OLA scooters. This means 11% of market share in the electric two wheeler space (bikes and scooters included). The numbers put forward by VAHAN data is atleast 16,353 less than those projected by the manufacturer. Let's now look at the cause of this mismatch...
Why The Mismatch?
In February this year, Ola Electric predicted that there could be a dip in its VAHAN registrations in the month of February. The cause of this, they saidm, was its ongoing (re)negotiations with the vehicle registration agencies regarding the contract.
The negotiation was aimed at improving the efficiency of the registration process and also at reducing the costs. The manufacturer also assured that their sales would continue even as the process goes on.
OLA Electric has been discussing renegotiation terms of agreement with Rosmerta Digital Private Limited and Shimnit India Private Limited. The move is part of its sales overhaul. These organisations currently handle vehicle registrations for OLA.
A regulatory filing regarding the same stated:
As a result of these ongoing negotiations, the registration numbers for the month of February 2025, as reflected on the VAHAN portal, will be temporarily impacted, while there will be no change in sales. Our sales continue to be strong through February 2025 and the dip in registration will be streamlined in the next few weeks.
OLA signed 'Agencies Agreements' with both these firms to ensure hassle-free registration journeys for their products. The agreement with Rosmerta was signed on December 16, 2021, whereas the one with Shimnit India came into being on December 27, 2021.
Ensuring hassle-free registration could mean life or death to OLA back in the day. The reason for this is that the manufacturer has a direct-to-consumer sales model. Efficient services by agencies like Rosmerta and Shimnit India would thus be critical in business success.
Bottomline
To sum things up, the conflicting sales numbers are likely due to the renegotiations around agency agreements and has little to do with actual sales. It could thus be rectified in the upcoming months. It thus makes sense to rely on the manufacturer claims for the February sales numbers, going by which would make OLA the leader in its segment...