[TusharK]

Having set up a successful ride-hailing business in India, Ola is now said to enter the online used car sales business.



According to a media report, the company is likely to set up a used car sales vertical under the brand name, Ola Cars. It is said that the company has started building a team to handle the operations and a pilot project is expected to begin in Bangalore this month.

Ola Cars would compete with startups like Cardekho, Cars24, CarTrade, Spinny and Droom. Whether this service will be part of the company's existing app remains to be seen.

Ola is currently gearing up to foray into the electric scooter segment later this month. The Ola e-scooter will take on the likes of the Ather 450X, Bajaj Chetak and TVS iQube.

Source: ET Auto

[DrCar]

I actually don't have too much hope on this venture by Ola.

Frankly speaking, I wasn't happy to look at the cars displayed by Cars24 (competitor) when I was looking for a used car. I visited their brick and mortar place in Powai. I thought the cars that were sold by them would atleast be made presentable but most of the cars were covered with dust. Also, none of their executives were bothered enough to explain me the details about the car. No follow-up calls ever till date.

Try posting your used car on their website and get ready to be bombarded by fake individual buyers call.
I feel Ola too won't be able to shake the market unless they think out of the box and do something radical like what they have done with upcoming Ola electric scooter.

On the side note, I am happy that there will be another IPO in the pipeline in future.

[Sran]

It feel like that Ola has now given up on the core business seeing the disruption that is going on with uber and lyft. Venturing into new segments that are already done and dusted or is it some sort of scam in making where they will funnel money from one operation to another via dubious methods? Their valuations are at all time low. Does Ola scooter need more capital which they do not have?

[RT13]

I’ve been getting push notifications of the used car biz on fb for a few days now. Probably cos I sold my car a few months ago (on Cardekho and was extremely happy with the service) and had shopped around a few platforms. Have to say that Ola has always been one of the more agile Indian startups. Not just a straight-up ‘Indian copy’ of a western idea but something that’s been extra relevant to our market. I think they may just be able to do something interesting here.

[androdev]

OLA to be renamed to Aggarwal group of Industries

[OldWays]

* Just my personal opinion based on some of my (and other acquaintances) experience with their ride-hailing service.

They are on track to compete to become leading and hated companies in India. I am convincing myself that a company of this size cannot risk alienating customers by either onboarding fraudulent partners or by means of their app algorithm (this could be common with all ride-hailing apps, although I am unsure). I had been on a few rides where I thought the charges were fraudulent.

Now they plan to become your “trusty used car sales person”. If that term even could exist in real world. Good luck with their e-scooter, ride-hailing and brand ‘new’ used car biz!

[Avinash_R]

I opened their app out of curiosity to see what kind of inventory they have. They had 3 sections - one of them had the tagline, Max Safety under it. So clicked on it to further explore and the first 2 options under automatics are a Baleno and Celerio!!!

[ntvdl]

Hello,

I was looking at purchasing a used car in Bangalore and found a car which I liked on ola cars. I wanted to know if anyone have done a purchase through them and if yes, then how was the experience? Anything to keep in mind?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[rubicon]

Ola shuts down used cars (OLA cars) and quick commerce businesses (OLA Dash).

Shared mobility major Ola has shut its used car division Ola Cars within eight months of its commencement, as it sharpens its focus on its electric vehicle and mobility business.

In an official response, a company spokesperson confirmed the development and said that Ola has reassessed its priorities and decided to shut down the quick commerce business. The Ola Cars infrastructure, technology and capabilities will now “be repurposed towards growing our Ola Electric sales and service network,” said the spokesperson.


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/92443724.cms

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by rubicon

Ola shuts down used cars (OLA cars) and quick commerce businesses (OLA Dash).

Shared mobility major Ola has shut its used car division Ola Cars within eight months of its commencement, as it sharpens its focus on its electric vehicle and mobility business.

In an official response, a company spokesperson confirmed the development and said that Ola has reassessed its priorities and decided to shut down the quick commerce business. The Ola Cars infrastructure, technology and capabilities will now “be repurposed towards growing our Ola Electric sales and service network,” said the spokesperson.


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/92443724.cms

Talk about being Jack of all trades, master of none

Trey tried everything with the used car business - ratings, checks, home test drives, exhibitions, fancy websites for different categories - regular, high-end cars (named elite), some buyback guarantee, and so on.

They just did not understand that their expected margins are not sustainable in the price sensitive used car business.

[Knightrider]

Originally Posted by sunilch

They just did not understand that their expected margins are not sustainable in the price sensitive used car business.

True. I sold my old car to Ola. They offered me the highest price compared to Cars24 & Spinny. May be because they were new in this business at that time and wanted to build their stock.
Later when the car was listed on their website, it was just 14k more than what they paid me.