Automobile manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra and ride-hailing firm Ola have entered into a strategic alliance, targeting vehicle sales and financing of over Rs26bn in two years.
“Through this strategic alliance, they target 40,000 driver partners aiming overall vehicle sales and financing of over $400mn (Rs26bn) in two years,” a joint statement from the two companies said here yesterday.
“Ola’s driver partners can now avail of Mahindra-Ola package which will include Mahindra cars at special prices, attractive financing with zero down payment, and the best non-banking financial company (NBFC) interest rates, subsidised insurance premiums, comprehensive maintenance packages, as well as exclusive benefits on the Ola platform,” the statement said.
The alliance seeks to encourage micro-entrepreneurship among drivers, to address India’s growing mobility needs, it said.
“The Mahindra-Ola package focuses on financial inclusion by empowering driver partners who otherwise may not be able to invest in a car, to purchase one at a highly affordable price, and at up to zero down payment,” the statement said.
“This is an important strategic alliance for the Mahindra Group, one that I believe will change the contours of our industry, while giving us the first mover advantage in the fast growing sharing economy of India,” Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group said.
“Our alliance with Mahindra will help build significant scale by innovatively building more mobility options and newer use cases in the time to come,” Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola said.