Ola Electric just had its “Nokia moment.” As of Tuesday, December 30, 2025, the final year-end numbers are in, and they’re brutal for the former market leader. The company has essentially lost half its market share in just twelve months, dropping from over 33% in 2024 to a mere 16.1% this year.
The thing is, the “move fast and break things” strategy finally just… broke. Or nothing. Let’s be real, you can’t keep selling thousands of scooters if your service centers look like graveyards for broken parts. Those too. While the disruptors stumbled, the “uncles” of the industry—TVS and Bajaj—sprinted past them.
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The New 2025 Pecking Order
The traditional manufacturers (Legacy OEMs) have officially taken over the EV playground.
| Rank | Manufacturer | 2025 Sales (Approx) | Market Share | The “Secret Sauce” |
| 1 | TVS Motor | 2.95 Lakh Units | 24.2% | The iQube refresh and a massive service network. |
| 2 | Bajaj Auto | 2.67 Lakh Units | 21.9% | The Chetak portfolio expansion into mid-range. |
| 3 | Ather Energy | 1.98 Lakh Units | 16.2% | The Rizta family scooter was a massive hit. |
| 4 | Ola Electric | 1.97 Lakh Units | 16.1% | Service nightmares and delivery delays killed the hype. |
| 5 | Hero (Vida) | 1.07 Lakh Units | 8.8% | Doubled their share via the new VX2 series. |
What Went Wrong for Ola?
It’s a classic case of scaling too fast without the “boring” stuff like spare parts.
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The Service Wall: Customer grievance resolution became a PR disaster. When people have to wait 30 days for a software glitch fix, they tell their neighbors.
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The “Legacy” Trust: Buyers are realizing that for a ₹1.5 lakh purchase, they want a physical dealership they can walk into and shout at someone if things go wrong. Bajaj and TVS already had 500+ of those.
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Rare Earth Issues: And here’s the kicker: geopolitical tensions with China led to a shortage of heavy rare earth materials for magnets. The legacy players had more diverse supply chains, while the startups got hit with production delays.
Ather’s “Rizta” Pivot
Ather was the silent winner here. They finally stopped trying to be just the “cool tech brand” and built the Rizta—a big, boring, practical family scooter. It worked. They actually edged out Ola by a hair to take the #3 spot by the end of December.
It’s an ongoing situation where the “Electric” part of the name doesn’t matter as much as the “Reliable” part anymore. 2026 is looking like the year where being a “tech company” isn’t enough to sell a two-wheeler in India.
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